Flow metrics
Also known as A small metric set
Definition
Flow metrics include cycle time, throughput, work item age, queue time, and flow efficiency. Together they describe how work behaves rather than reducing engineering to one activity count.
Flow metrics in practice
Flow metrics include cycle time, throughput, work item age, queue time, and flow efficiency. Together they describe how work behaves rather than reducing engineering to one activity count.
A concrete example
An illustrative team reviews throughput, cycle-time percentiles, WIP, and blocked time each week. The set shows stable completion while review age grows, giving the team a better improvement question than a commit count.
How to use the signal
Compare this measure with cycle time, throughput, work in progress, and queue time. Define the start and finish events, inspect distributions instead of relying on one average, and record the policy behind any comparison. A useful measure should lead to a specific question about flow rather than a score for an individual.
Limitations
Metrics depend on workflow boundaries, item definitions, and data completeness. They do not measure customer value or individual productivity automatically. Use them for system learning.
How this relates to Weave
Weave's engineering intelligence can help teams inspect delivery activity and timing around flow metrics. Use those signals to find patterns and test workflow improvements, while keeping the team's work system as the source of truth for product, operational, and dependency context.
Explore Engineering intelligence