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Lead Time

5 minutes 5 Questions

Lead Time in the Scrum context refers to the complete journey a piece of work undertakes from the time it enters the system until it is finished. This includes time during which work awaits prioritization, is in progress or under review. It is a vital performance metric as it helps the team underst…

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CSM - Lead Time Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Lead Time

Question 1

A team observes that their Lead Time is increasing over time. Which of these actions should the team take?

Correct Answer: Identify and address process bottlenecks

If Lead Time is increasing, there might be bottlenecks in the process. Identifying and addressing these bottlenecks will help improve the project's Lead Time.

Question 2

A project experiences long Lead Times, but short Cycle Times. Where should the team focus their improvement efforts?

Correct Answer: Removing non-value-added activities

If the project has long Lead Times but short Cycle Times, the waiting time is the main issue. By eliminating or minimizing non-value-added activities, the team can reduce overall Lead Time.

Question 3

A project has a Lead Time of 30 days, and a Cycle Time of 10 days. A feature is requested with high urgency. Calculate the quickest delivery time.

Correct Answer: The feature can be delivered in 30 days.

Lead Time and Cycle Time are two important metrics in the Scrum framework. Lead Time is the total time from the moment a feature request is made until it is fully implemented and available for use. This includes the time needed to process the request and the actual work on the feature. Cycle Time is the amount of time it takes to complete the work on the feature once it's started. In this case, the Lead Time is 30 days and the Cycle Time is 10 days. This means it takes 10 days to finish the work once it’s started, but 30 days total from the time the request is made. Therefore, the quickest delivery time for a high urgency feature would be the Lead Time, which is 30 days. Other answers that suggest shorter or longer periods are incorrect because they do not take into consideration the total Lead Time that includes processing of the request and actual work on the feature.

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