A. When the Agile Team pulls a Story onto the board
B. When the Story is accepted by the Product Owner
C. When the Story is released to users and validated
D. When the team demos to the Product Owner
E. When the Story is deployed
Correct Answer is
A. When the Agile Team pulls a Story onto the board
B. When the Story is accepted by the Product Owner
Explanation
To measure lead time on a Team Kanban board, at minimum, you need to know:
- When the Agile Team pulls a Story onto the board: This timestamp marks the beginning of the process for a specific piece of work (a user story, in Agile terms). Lead time measures the total time taken from the moment work begins on an item (in this case, when it’s pulled onto the Kanban board to start work) until it’s completed. Therefore, knowing when work officially starts is crucial.
- When the Story is accepted by the Product Owner: This timestamp marks the end of the process for the story, signifying that the work has been completed to the satisfaction of the Product Owner and meets the acceptance criteria. This point in time is essential for calculating the total lead time, as it signifies the completion of work from the team’s perspective.
The other options, while important milestones in the development process, are not as critical for the basic calculation of lead time:
- When the Story is released to users and validated: This is more related to the measure of cycle time from release to validation in production rather than lead time for the Kanban board process itself.
- When the team demos to the Product Owner: While important for feedback and approval, the demo may not necessarily coincide with the acceptance of the story. It’s a part of the process but not a definitive start or end point for calculating lead time.
- When the Story is deployed: Deployment is an important step, but the key metric for lead time ends with the acceptance of the story by the Product Owner, as deployment may not immediately follow acceptance.
Lead time helps teams understand how quickly they can turn a request into a deliverable product, which is why the start point (when work begins) and the endpoint (when work is accepted) are the essential timestamps needed for its calculation.