Agile.Metrics.for.Predictability.An.Introduction.098643633

“When will it be done?” That is probably the first question your customers ask you once you start working on something for them. Think about how many times you have been asked that question. How many times have you ever actually been right? We can debate all we want whether this is a fair question to ask given the tremendous amount of uncertainty in knowledge work, but the truth of the matter is that our customers are going to inquire about completion time whether we like it or not. Which means we need to come up with an accurate way to answer them. The problem is that the forecasting tools that we currently utilize have made us ill-equipped to provide accurate answers to reasonable customer questions. Until now. Topics Include Why managing for flow is the best strategy for predictability—including an introduction to Little’s Law and its implications for flow. A definition of the basic metrics of flow and how to properly visualize those metrics in analytics like Cumulative Flow Diagrams and Scatterplots. Why your process policies are the potentially the biggest reason that you are unpredictable. Table of Contents PART ONE - FLOW FOR PREDICTABILITY Chapter 1 - Flow, Flow Metrics, and Predictability Chapter 2 - The Basic Metrics of Flow Chapter 3 - Introduction to Little’s Law PART TWO - CUMULATIVE FLOW DIAGRAMS FOR PREDICTABILITY Chapter 4 - Introduction to CFDs Chapter 5 - Flow Metrics and CFDs Chapter 6 - Interpreting CFDs Chapter 7 - Conservation of Flow Part I Chapter 8 - Conservation of Flow Part II Chapter 9 - Flow Debt PART THREE - CYCLE TIME SCATTERPLOTS FOR PREDICTABILITY Chapter 10 - Introduction to Cycle Time Scatterplots Chapter 10a - Cycle Time Histograms Chapter 11 - Interpreting Cycle Time Scatterplots Chapter 12 - Service Level Agreements PART FOUR - PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER FOR PREDICTABILITY Chapter 13 - Pull Policies Chapter 14 - Introduction to Forecasting Chapter 15 - Monte Carlo Method Introduction Chapter 16 - Getting Started PART FIVE - A