POV: It's Christmas Eve, and while everyone's hanging stockings, you're hanging your head in despair as you stare at yet another "North Pole Workshop Performance Report".
You're Santa, and for the last few years, you've been having a ho-ho-HORRIBLE production cycle time.
Luckily, this year, you have a chance to make it different. Your Chief Innovation Elf (CIE)—the one you poached from Tesla—has just got some app called the Cycle Time Charts Gadget. It has multiple cycle time charts rolled into a single gadget, and you’re looking at the Time in Status chart.
The Time in Status chart shows exactly how long work items spend in each status (like "In Progress" or "Ready for Test"). The chart displays this data in colorful stacked bars, where each color represents a different status, and you can see both the total time and percentage breakdowns.
With the Time in Status chart, you can:
See cumulative time across all work items
Compare active work vs waiting time
Track trends across multiple sprints
Group statuses into meaningful categories
Ensure task timing matches your work schedule for better accuracy.
You ask because, as an experienced Jira user, you know that Jira has charts for almost everything.
Out of the box, Jira offers basic time tracking through the "Time in Status" report, but with certain limitations. But the native Jira report:
Only shows the average time in status
Can't group statuses into categories
Lacks visual breakdown of waiting vs working time
Doesn't provide trend analysis across sprints
Your CIE points at the screen: "This Time in Status chart reveals a serious problem in our workshop - it seems that we have significant delays in some particular statuses. Let’s group them into 'In Progress' and 'Waiting' categories for a clear picture,” and with a few clicks, he sets up the groups:
In Progress: Anything that's active work
Waiting: That pesky "Ready for Test" status.
"Can you see it? Let me make it a bit easier to digest," your CIE says as he switches to the ratio view. The chart transforms to show percentages, and suddenly, the problem becomes crystal clear.
Your workshop has a massive waiting problem. In Sprint 59, your toys spent an alarming 67.52% of their time just sitting in "Ready for Test" status! Even your best sprint (Sprint 57) still had toys waiting for 39.21% of their time.
“But I still don’t understand how this happened. Is this Dave from the QA department?” you ask. Dave is a nightmare, so you won’t be surprised.
"Hold on, Boss," your CIE says, clicking the breakdown button. "Let's dig deeper into these numbers before blaming anyone. The Cycle Time Charts Gadget has a special feature for this."
The Time in Status chart expands into a detailed three-level breakdown.
First, by status, then by assignee, and finally by issue type. Your eyes widen as the real story unfolds:
In Testing status: Only 5 weeks of the total 15 weeks
Most of Dave’s tasks: Simple bug fixes completed within 2-3 days
The real problem: 20 weeks in "Ready for Test" status assigned to... nobody.
Looks like Dave isn't playing games after all. The toys are getting stuck in 'Ready for Test' because we never assigned a QA elf!
"So," you say, feeling a bit guilty about all those coal-in-stocking threats, "we don't have a Dave problem. We have a process problem."
You stand up. "It's time to sleigh this problem once and for all. CIE, what do you suggest?"
The CIE grins and shares the master plan:
Start by adding the Cycle Time Charts Gadget to your Jira dashboard and configuring essential settings. Select your data sources carefully, focusing on relevant projects and boards. Use targeted JQL filters to narrow down specific workflows or teams you want to monitor. Remember to configure your working schedule to reflect actual working hours - this ensures accurate measurements by excluding holidays and breaks.
The Cycle Time Charts gadget gives you three powerful ways to analyze your time in status, each telling a different part of the story.
The Average per Issue chart shows how long individual items typically spend in each status. While the default arithmetic mean is useful, switching to the median (50th percentile) gives you a clearer picture by filtering out those outlier issues that skew your data.
The Time in Status Ratio chart transforms these times into percentages, making it immediately clear when your process needs attention. This view makes it impossible to hide process inefficiencies - when waiting time consistently exceeds active work time, you know something needs to change.
The Absolute Time in Status chart reveals the full scope of your team's effort, showing cumulative time in weeks. This view is particularly valuable when you need to justify additional resources or demonstrate the impact of process improvements.
Start by setting realistic targets across all views. For the Average per Issue view, establish clear thresholds - perhaps one day for optimal flow, 1.5 days as a warning sign, and anything over two days as critical. These same principles apply to your ratio targets: aim for less than 40% waiting time as ideal, 40-50% as concerning, and over 50% as a clear signal for intervention.
Monitor these metrics consistently, but remember that they work best together. Use the Average view for day-to-day tracking, the Ratio view to maintain process health, and the Absolute view for strategic planning. When you spot issues - like Sprint 59's alarming 67.52% waiting time - you'll have all the data needed to make informed improvements.
Right after Christmas Eve, when all presents have been successfully delivered, you take one last look at the Cycle Time Charts Gadget.
The latest data shows you had the most efficient Christmas delivery in centuries.
“Ho-ho-holy reindeer, these cycle time charts are awesome!” - you say, relieved.
And this story ends.
PS: now, while having some rest after saving Christmas and sipping mulled wine, the Broken Build team wishes all Jira users many happy sprint planning sessions in the coming year! 🎉🎉🎉
Vasyl Krokha _Broken Build_
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