Initial commit

skills/managing-bd-tasks/resources/metrics-guide.md

@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+# bd Metrics Guide
+
+This guide covers the key metrics for tracking work in bd.
+
+## Cycle Time vs. Lead Time
+
+**Two distinct time measurements:**
+
+### Cycle Time
+
+- **Definition**: Time from "work started" to "work completed"
+- **Start**: When task moves to "in-progress" status
+- **End**: When task moves to "closed" status
+- **Measures**: How efficiently work flows through active development
+- **Use**: Identify process inefficiencies, improve development speed
+
+```bash
+# Calculate cycle time for completed task
+bd show bd-5 | grep "status.*in-progress" # Get start time
+bd show bd-5 | grep "status.*closed"      # Get end time
+# Difference = cycle time
+```
+
+### Lead Time
+
+- **Definition**: Time from "request created" to "delivered to customer"
+- **Start**: When task is created (enters backlog)
+- **End**: When task is deployed/delivered
+- **Measures**: Overall responsiveness to requests
+- **Use**: Set realistic expectations, measure total process duration
+
+```bash
+# Calculate lead time for completed task
+bd show bd-5 | grep "created_at"    # Get creation time
+bd show bd-5 | grep "deployed_at"   # Get deployment time (if tracked)
+# Difference = lead time
+```
+
+### Key Differences
+
+| Metric | Starts | Ends | Includes Waiting? | Measures |
+|--------|--------|------|-------------------|----------|
+| **Cycle Time** | In-progress | Closed | No | Development efficiency |
+| **Lead Time** | Created | Deployed | Yes | Total responsiveness |
+
+### Example
+
+```
+Task created: Monday 9am (enters backlog)
+↓ [waits 2 days]
+Task started: Wednesday 9am (moved to in-progress)
+↓ [active work]
+Task completed: Wednesday 5pm (moved to closed)
+↓ [waits for deployment]
+Task deployed: Thursday 2pm (delivered)
+
+Cycle Time: 8 hours (Wednesday 9am → 5pm)
+Lead Time: 3 days, 5 hours (Monday 9am → Thursday 2pm)
+```
+
+### Why Both Matter
+
+- **Short cycle time, long lead time**: Work is efficient once started, but tasks wait too long in backlog
+  - Fix: Reduce WIP, start fewer tasks, finish faster
+
+- **Long cycle time, short lead time**: Work starts immediately but takes forever to complete
+  - Fix: Split tasks smaller, remove blockers, improve focus
+
+- **Both long**: Overall process is slow
+  - Fix: Address both backlog management AND development efficiency
+
+### Tracking Over Time
+
+```bash
+# Average cycle time (manual calculation)
+# For each closed task: (closed_at - started_at)
+# Sum and divide by task count
+
+# Trend analysis
+# Week 1: Avg cycle time = 3 days
+# Week 2: Avg cycle time = 2 days  ✅ Improving
+# Week 3: Avg cycle time = 4 days  ❌ Getting worse
+```
+
+### Improvement Targets
+
+- **Cycle time**: Reduce by splitting tasks, removing blockers, improving focus
+- **Lead time**: Reduce by prioritizing backlog, reducing WIP, faster deployment
+
+## Work in Progress (WIP)
+
+```bash
+# All in-progress tasks
+bd list --status in-progress
+
+# Count
+bd list --status in-progress | grep "^bd-" | wc -l
+```
+
+### WIP Limits
+
+Work in Progress limits prevent overcommitment and identify bottlenecks.
+
+**Setting WIP limits:**
+- **Personal WIP limit**: 1-2 tasks in-progress at a time
+- **Team WIP limit**: Depends on team size and workflow stages
+- **Rule of thumb**: WIP limit = (Team size ÷ 2) + 1
+
+**Example for individual developer:**
+```
+✅ Good: 1 task in-progress, 0-1 in code review
+❌ Bad: 5 tasks in-progress simultaneously
+```
+
+**Example for team of 6:**
+```
+Workflow stages and limits:
+- Backlog: Unlimited
+- Ready: 8 items max
+- In Progress: 4 items max  (team size ÷ 2 + 1)
+- Code Review: 3 items max
+- Testing: 2 items max
+- Done: Unlimited
+```
+
+### Why WIP Limits Matter
+
+1. **Focus:** Fewer tasks means deeper focus, faster completion
+2. **Flow:** Prevents bottlenecks from accumulating
+3. **Quality:** Less context switching, fewer mistakes
+4. **Visibility:** High WIP indicates blocked work or overcommitment
+
+### Monitoring WIP
+
+```bash
+# Check personal WIP
+bd list --status in-progress | grep "assignee:me" | wc -l
+
+# If > 2: Focus on finishing before starting new work
+```
+
+### Red Flags
+
+- WIP consistently at or above limit (need more capacity or smaller tasks)
+- WIP growing week-over-week (work piling up, not finishing)
+- WIP high but velocity low (tasks blocked or too large)
+
+### Response to High WIP
+
+1. Finish existing tasks before starting new ones
+2. Identify and remove blockers
+3. Split large tasks
+4. Add capacity (if chronically high)
+
+## Bottleneck Identification
+
+```bash
+# Find tasks that are blocking others
+# (Tasks that many other tasks depend on)
+for task in $(bd list --status open | grep "^bd-" | cut -d: -f1); do
+  echo -n "$task: "
+  bd list --status open | xargs -I {} sh -c "bd show {} | grep -q \"depends on $task\" && echo {}" | wc -l
+done | sort -t: -k2 -n -r
+
+# Shows tasks with most dependencies (top bottlenecks)
+```