how to implement flow metrics implementation and reporting in atlassian

Question

Eduardo Anflor - MindPro · Answer

Hi @Takiar, Vishal (B2B - Infosys)

Native Control Chart and CFD cover the basics, but if you want flow metrics (throughput, lead time, cycle time, WIP, etc.) side by side on one dashboard without building JQL filters for each, a Marketplace app is indeed the practical route.

If you are open to that, I recommend Mindpro Insights. I work at Mindpro, and I believe the app can help with your requirements. Insights is a dashboard app with ready-made flow-metric widgets (cycle time, lead time, throughput, etcg) that you can filter by project, team, or sprint and share as a single dashboard, with no scripting or admin setup.

It allows any user to easily create dashboards with 50+ gadgets you can choose from. The gadgets are interactive, which means that when you click on any chart segment, the entire dashboard adapts to your filter.

It has a free trial on the Marketplace if you'd like to compare it with other options:

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1228323/insights-custom-charts-reports-dashboards-jira-rovo?hosting=cloud&tab=overview

Happy to answer questions on configuring the metrics

Regards,

Eduardo

Danut M _StonikByte_ · Answer

Hi @Takiar, Vishal (B2B - Infosys),

Jira offers some basic built-in reports, such as the Control Chart and Cumulative Flow Diagram, which you could use. However, these reports are generally limited to individual projects and offer limited flexibility.

A better approach would be to create a dashboard in Jira or, alternatively, a page in Confluence that brings together all the metrics you want to track and keeps them updated in real time.

To achieve this, you will most likely need an app from the Atlassian Marketplace that provides the necessary gadgets and macros for tracking and visualizing these metrics.

For example, our Great Gadgets app (perhaps you already have it installed?!) offers a wide range of Jira dashboard gadgets and Confluence macros for tracking flow metrics.

Here are some examples of flow metrics and the gadgets you can use to track them:

* Throughput - can be tracked with the Kanban Velocity / Throughput gadget 
* Lead time, Cycle time, Time Between Statuses: can be tracked with Control Chart gadget, Histogram Chart gadget, or Cycle Time Trend gadget
* Time in Status, Time in Board Column - can be tracked with Time in Status gadget
* Work in progress: can be tracked with Cumulative Flow Diagram gadget or WIP Run Chart gadget
* Work in progress age, WIP Breaches: Can be tracked with WIP Aging Chart gadget
* Work profile , Flow Load & Flow Distribution: Can be tracked with Cumulative Flow Diagram gadget or Pivot Table & Pivot Chart gadget

The app can measure many other metrics. Do you have a specific list of metrics to track?

Hope this helps.

Danut

Viswanathan Ramachandran · Answer

Hi,

For small/single team, use Control Chart and Cumulative Flow Diagram. For more reports see

https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/generate-a-report/

For broader reporting, Atlassian Analytics has a Flow metrics dashboard template covering throughput, work profile, lead time, cycle time, WIP, and flow efficiency. It requires a Jira data connection in Atlassian Analytics. Atlassian currently lists Analytics and its templates as available to Cloud Enterprise customers. Check your plan and data-source setup before designing around it. See https://support.atlassian.com/analytics/docs/flow-metrics-work-items-view-dashboard-template/

https://support.atlassian.com/analytics/docs/dashboard-templates-for-jira-software/

You can use Confluence for the reporting narrative. You can also place a Jira dashboard or gadget on a Confluence page as a Smart Link.

I would recommend to start in stages by defining the

* scope
* establish
* review
* publish