A Flow Efficiency Report can be used to measure how efficiently work items or tasks move through the workflow. Some of the key metrics used are flow efficiency, value-adding time, and non-value-adding time. Flow efficiency is the ratio of value-adding time to the total cycle time, and it helps to minimize non-value-adding time. Value-adding time is the total duration that a team actively works on the task or work item. Non-value-adding time is the total duration that a task or work item remains idle, without any team members working on it. To assess flow efficiency, a team needs to gather data on the start and end dates for a work item, the time that the work item spends in each column of the Kanban Board, and the time that the team is actually spending on the item versus its wait time. A simple formula to assess flow efficiency is:
Flow Efficiency = (Value-adding Time / Cycle Time) * 100
A Flow Efficiency Report can be presented using a data summary table or a bar or line chart. A data summary table on flow efficiency helps an organization understand the average flow efficiency of a specific number of work items over a specified duration by considering value-adding time, cycle time, and non-value-adding time. Similarly, a bar or line chart depicts the flow efficiency across work items to identify patterns, reduce wait time, and balance workload.