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 understand how long it takes for work to be completed after being initialized, aiding in more realistic future planning.

Guide to Lead Time for Scrum Performance Metrics

Lead Time is a crucial performance metric in Scrum that helps to understand how long it takes for a work item to go through the whole process, from the time it is requested until it is fully executed.

Importance of Lead Time:
The significance of Lead Time resides in its capacity to reflect the efficiency of a Scrum team. It provides transparency into the workflow and helps to identify potential bottlenecks, leading to improved project management and better quality deliverables.

Understanding Lead Time:
Lead Time begins when a new item enters the system (a request has been placed or a task has been added to the backlog) and ends when this item is finished. This timeframe includes both working time and wait time.

How it works:
Measuring Lead Time involves tracking each task from the moment it enters the backlog until it's completed. It is calculated as: Lead Time = End Time - Start Time.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Lead Time:
When answering questions about Lead Time, remember to clearly outline its purpose and importance. Be sure to understand and explain the difference between Lead Time and Cycle Time. Discuss its benefits and limitation. Finally, be prepared to calculate Lead Time using given data in hypothetical scenarios.

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Question 1

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

Increase project budget Shift focus to low-priority tasks Hire more team members Negotiate more time for delivery Identify and address process bottlenecks Request additional resources

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?

Increasing resource allocation Reducing Cycle Time Revising customer expectations Adjusting project priorities Improving team collaboration Removing non-value-added activities

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.

The feature can be delivered in 40 days. The feature can be delivered in 30 days. The feature can be delivered in 20 days. The feature can be delivered in 10 days.

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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