Use ART Metrics to review how much work the ART completed during the PI.
- Seeing how much work was completed.
- Finding the regular capacity.
Who Should Review ART Metrics?
While ART metrics can be reviewed by all ART members, this typically falls within the responsibility of the Release Train Engineer (RTE), Product Manager(s), System Architect(s), and Business Owner(s) who are steering the ART.
Reviewing Metrics
- Navigate to the ART Metrics folder.
- Expand ARTs, then ART Metrics.
- Select the desired view within the ART Metrics folder.
- Descriptions of each view are found in the next section of this article.
- Use the Agile Release Train filter to show the appropriate ART, if not already selected.
Understanding Targetprocess Metric Reports
ART Flow Distribution
What does it measure?
The ART Flow Distribution chart shows the amount of Effort Completed for each Value Type of work (e.g., Business, Enabler, Improvement, Operations, or Technical Debt) in the current and past PIs. This can be used to help with capacity allocation for future PIs.
Why is it important?
ARTs must distribute capacity across the different Value Types appropriately to maximize the overall flow of value over time.
- Too much focus on 'Business' or 'Operational' in the short-term may leave limited capacity for 'Enabler', 'Improvement', or 'Technical Debt', thus limiting future long-term value delivery.
- Alternatively, too much focus on 'Enabler', 'Improvement', or 'Technical Debt' in the short-term may leave limited capacity for 'Business' or 'Operational', thus limiting short-term value delivery.
ART Flow Velocity
What does it measure?
The ART Flow Velocity chart shows the amount of Effort Completed for the current and past PIs. It also shows the average amount of Effort Completed across those Program Increments, which can be used to help determine the Capacity for future Program Increments.
Why is it important?
Past velocity can be a good gauge for future capacity, which is critical for roadmapping. However, significant variation in velocity decreases the ability to accurately forecast into the future. Although the application of agile principles and practices can help to increase velocity over time, a constant increase in velocity is not typically sustainable, so maintaining a steady velocity is desirable.
ART Flow Time
What does it measure?
The ART Flow Time chart view has two views:
- The Basic view shows the average Cycle Time for Features for the current and past Program Increments. It also shows the average Cycle Time for Features across those Program Increments.
- The Detailed view is a scatter plot where each dot is plotted based on the End Date of one or more Features and the average Cycle Time for those associated Features. The size of the dot represents the number of Features with the same End Date. It also shows the average Cycle Time across all plotted Features and a trend line across time.
Why is it important?
Similar to velocity, past cycle time can be a good predictor for the future, but significant variation in cycle time decreases the ability to forecast accurately. And although the application of agile principles and practices can help to decrease cycle time, a constant decrease in cycle time is not typically sustainable, so maintaining a steady cycle time is desirable.
ART Flow Load
What does it measure?
The ART Flow Load diagram shows how many Features are in each State at any given time, represented by the vertical distance between curves. This diagram can be used to visualize bottlenecks and thus limit work in progress (WIP) and enable faster flow of value.
Why is it important?
Having too much work in progress (WIP) causes ARTs and associated Teams to be overloaded, priorities to be misunderstood, and context switching to occur, all of which result in increased Flow Time and decreased Flow Velocity. Because of this, WIP needs to be measured and subsequently limited to improve the flow of value.
ART Flow Efficiency
What does it measure?
The ART Flow Efficiency chart shows the average Duration that Features spend in each State for the current and past Program Increments.
If wait states are built into the Feature Workflow, then Flow Efficiency can be derived from this chart by dividing the Activity Time (sum of all non-wait states) by the Flow Time (sum of all states). If wait states are not built into the Feature Workflow, then Flow Efficiency cannot be derived from this chart, and it functions more as an extension of ART Flow Time.
Why is it important?
The actual measure of Flow Efficiency is calculated by dividing Activity Time by total Flow Time. The lower the Flow Efficiency, the more waste there is in the system. As that waste is eliminated, Flow Efficiency will increase, thus increasing Flow Time, decreasing Flow Velocity, and improving the overall flow of value.
ART Flow Predictability
What does it measure?
The ART Flow Predictability chart shows how well ARTs and associated Teams are able to meet their planned Team PI Objectives.
Why is it important?
Past measures of % Achieved can be a good gauge for the future, but significant variability decreases the ability to forecast accurately. Given the typical 10- to 12-week PI cadence, the targeted control range for % Achieved is between 80% and 100%. Anything out of this range is considered unpredictable, making commitments unrealistic. Sustainable measures within this range enable effective planning, roadmapping, and forecasting.