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Is there a way to get the lead time from Estimate to Completion in Azure DevOps Dashboard

Last post 07:26 pm December 22, 2021 by Ian Mitchell
2 replies
Cloudy tech
02:05 pm December 22, 2021

I've been using Azure DevOps Dashboard for a while now and it's working nicely. One gap I have found is in it's Lead Time Chart. This goes from date creation to date completed, which in an Agile world doesn't make sense. Backlogs can be thought of a placeholder for a conversation, following this initial backlogs can be vague and poorly defined, and more information and clarity will be added as the backlog moves closer to being actionable. Got doubt during reading this blog Agile vs Waterfall.

What I would want is a "Estimated to Completion". SCRUM teams estimate when there is enough information that the item could be pulled in to a Sprint, and this is the point where the lead time really makes sense.

Is it possible to add this to the DevOps dashboard, is there a query that will give me what I need?

Thanks.

 

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Daniel Wilhite
05:44 pm December 22, 2021

It appears that you do not understand the use of Lead Time.  I suggest you read the book Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictibilty by Daniel S Vacanti.   In that book he explains how metrics like Lead Time can be used.  He also explains different metrics such as Cycle Time.  All of the metrics he explains are based upon actual time rather than estimates.  

Your metric of "Estimated to Completion" is more aligned to Cycle Time (time from when work begins to work is completed). But even that is not completely accurate.  Because it is possible for an item to sit in the Product Backlog with an estimate attached for a period before it gets pulled into a Sprint. 

I have not used Azure DevOps to manage a Product Backlog so I can't help you with your explicit question. But I feel like if they have a Lead Time chart, there is probably a way to get Cycle Time as well.  If you further your understanding of metric types, it may help you better understand what data is possible to get. 

Ian Mitchell
07:26 pm December 22, 2021

What I would want is a "Estimated to Completion". SCRUM teams estimate when there is enough information that the item could be pulled in to a Sprint, and this is the point where the lead time really makes sense.

That's interesting. Is the team committed to delivering a Done item the moment it has been estimated?

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