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Trello (or another tool) for tracking the flow metrics (in a Kanban board)

Last post 01:57 pm January 31, 2020 by Robin Warren
3 replies
11:29 pm August 31, 2019

Hello!

I have been applied Kanban in some projects and I would like to track the work items in order to provide some predictability and later be able to forecast. My flow has “ready” column and “done” for each step before the last one, when the work items depart the system. There are 5 columns at all.

I’m using Trello, it works in a very amazing way in terms of transparency and vizualization, but I’m unable to find out some plugin or extension that would track, for each step, the arrivals and departures; and between steps and from the begin (first column) and the end (last one) of the system.

The idea is to track throughput, cycle time, work item aging, and WIP limits.

Has anyone ever seen some approach that works by using Trello or another free, or even a paid tool?

What would you recommend?


07:02 am September 1, 2019

ActionableAgile should provide the insights you're looking for. It doesn't explicitly track WIP limits, but does show cumulative flow.

I've used it with Jira, where data can be imported quite easily. It also has a CSV import, which is great as long as you can match the required format.

Data is stored locally on your computer, which is good from a security perspective, but makes it harder to share data with others.

The UI isn't super intuitive, but once you know how it works, it's a reliable tool. 

In short, it's great for anyone who has the time and interest to use it properly. It's far too complex to expect less engaged colleagues to use it.


05:43 pm September 2, 2019

Thank you, Simon!

I've posted it too in another forum, "Agile and Lean Software Development" on LinkedIn. One of the repliers also recommended Jira. In fact, there are another suitable options according to the respondents over there.


09:38 am January 31, 2020

Maybe a bit late to this but there are actually a few add ons for Trello (Power-Ups in Trello terms) which can do what you ask. One is Corrello (disclosure: I built it) http://getcorrello.com/ which tracks cycle times, WIP Age etc.

There are also a couple of options for WIP Limits in Trello. List limits by Trello and Agile Tools again by us, both are free.


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