In this article:
1. Introduction to the Analytics in Businessmap
2. Types of Charts/Graphs in the Analytics Module
2.1. Cycle Time Analytics
2.2. Throughput Analytics
2.3. WIP Analytics
2.4. Flow Analytics
2.5. Blockers Analytics
2.6. SLE Analytics
2.7. Forecasting Analytics
3. How to Save Your View
3.1. Create Your First Saved View
3.2. How to Share a Saved View
4. Overview of the Dataset Configuration Menu
4.1. Cycle Time Configuration
4.2. Workflow Stages
5. Time Configuration Settings
1. Introduction to the Analytics in Businessmap
The Analytics module helps you identify bottlenecks and provides predictability of your workflow so you can make better data-driven decisions. You can use the Analytics module to run reports on your work process and provide a visual representation of the data on the selected board.
Important: The analytics in Businessmap work per board.
2. Types of Charts/Graphs in the Analytics Module
The Analytics screen presents 7 categories: Cycle Time, Throughput, WIP, Flow, Blockers, SLEs, and Forecasting, each available as a tab item on the page. Click on a tab button to view the charts for each of the respective metrics.
Important: In Version 11.0, we released an updated version of the Analytics module, which impacts the following charts:
- Analytics Dashboard
- Cycle Time Scatter Plot
- Cycle Time Histogram
- Cycle Time Heat Map
- Throughput Histogram
- Throughput Run Chart
- Aging WIP Chart
- WIP Run Chart
- Cumulative Flow Diagram
- Flow Efficiency Chart
- Monte Carlo (When and How Many)
By default, the dashboard will load the new version. You can toggle between the new and old versions using the switch at the top. The article below describes the old chart behavior. To learn how the new version affects each chart, please refer to the respective chart's article.
2.1. Cycle Time Analytics
Cycle Time Scatter Plot — The Cycle Time Scatterplot chart is a representation of how long it takes to get things done for individual items on your board.
Cycle Time Histogram — The Cycle time histogram is similar to the Cycle time Scatterplot, but it visualizes the data differently. The Cycle time histogram aggregates the data and gives you the cycle time-frequency distribution of the completed cards in your workflow.
Cycle Time Heatmap — The Cycle Time Heatmap is a graphical representation of cycle time on a matrix that uses various shades of different colors to help distinguish the collected data in each cell of the matrix.
2.2. Throughput Analytics
Throughput Histogram — The Throughput histogram aggregates the data and gives you the distribution frequency of Throughput on the selected workflow. It visualizes how productive your team was. This is measured by the number of tasks finished each day for the defined time frame.
Throughput Run Chart — The Throughput Run Chart in Businessmap helps you visualize how much work you can deliver every day. The chart displays the data plotted over time, and it helps find trends or patterns in your process.
2.3. WIP Analytics
Aging WIP — The chart is used to track the age of your "in-progress" cards. Generally, this chart is similar to the Scatter plot, but it visualizes only work items currently being worked on.
WIP Run Chart — The WIP Run Chart helps you visualize how much work in progress your team has over a selected time in the selected workflow. The chart displays data plotted over time, and it helps find trends or patterns in the process.
2.4. Flow Analytics
Cumulative Flow Diagram — The Cumulative Flow Diagram aims to show the stability of your process over time. It tracks and accumulates each task that has ever entered or progressed to any stage of your workflow. Learn more about CFD in this video.
Flow Efficiency — The Flow Efficiency chart will automatically gather data from every card that passes through your board during the time frame of your choice to accumulate the overall flow efficiency for the period.
2.5. Blockers Analytics
Blocker Clustering — The Blocker Clustering Chart is a graphical representation of the time and number of times cards have been blocked. It is a heatmap that uses various shades of different colors to help visualize the collected blocker data.
Blocker Dynamics Chart — The Blocker Dynamics Chart helps you analyze the number of times different blockers have been used and resolved. It is a visual representation of the creation and resolution of blocks over selected periods of time. Using the Active Items Trend Line, you can also look at how many active blocks were left at the end of each period, and if there are blocks that span multiple days, so you can spot bottlenecks in your process.
2.6. SLE Analytics
Exceeded SLEs Scatter Plot and Exceeded SLEs Heat Map — The Exceeded SLEs Scatter Plot / Heat Map are two visual representations that help you analyze your Service Level Expectations.
They can be used to examine which SLEs in your process are most frequently not met (exceeded) as well as how much time they were exceeded with.
2.7. Forecasting Analytics
Monte Carlo How Many — The "How Many" Monte Carlo simulation aims to tell you the minimum amount of work items that you can get done within the next “x” days. For example, you can use it if you’ve got a deadline scheduled for July 7th and you wish to know how many tasks can be finished by then.
Monte Carlo When — The "Monte Carlo - When" simulation is the other way around compared to "Monte Carlo- How Many." The "Monte Carlo - When" chart aims to tell you when you can expect the team to finish a specific number of tasks that you are yet to start working on.
You can see some of these analytics in action in the video below:
3. How to Save Your View
You can save different chart views containing the data from any Analytics chart as a 'Saved View' to view later. These saved views will appear under the Saved Views section on the left side of the chart.
3.1. Create Your First Saved View
- Configure the Analytics module to your desired view. Make sure that both the left-side menu and the right-side controls are configured to produce the desired result.
- Click on the Save View button and give a name to the view.
- You can now select the view from the list and click on the three dots to open the view settings.
- If you want to update the view, you must first select it from the list. You can now make the desired changes and, when you are done, you need to open the view settings again and click the Update button to update the configuration.
3.2. How to Share a Saved View
To share a Saved View, you can add it as a widget to a dashboard. You can do so by hovering over the view and selecting the three dots to open the settings. From there you can select the Add to Dashboard option. You need to have the Dashboard Manager role on a Dashboard to do so.
Note: To ensure that you get accurate data, always click the Update button to refresh the saved view.
If you are unassigned from a board, the saved views for the board will be lost.
4. Overview of the Dataset Configuration Menu
Use the Dataset Configuration panel to set the data you want to analyze.
Start by selecting the workflows you want to get data for. The analytics module takes into consideration all cards from the selected workflows. Note that you can add single or multiple workflows for most of the analytics with the OR button. You can also exclude workflows with the 'is not' operator from the dropdown.
You can also apply extra filters (Add cards filter). You need to select at least one of the following fields: “Created At,” “Start Date,” or “End Date” and configure their value to create the time frame for the analysis. In addition, you may want to see only cards with high priority or cards that are of a certain type.
Note: You can't run the analysis without selecting at least one of the 3 mentioned fields. You can also select more than one of them for a more precise configuration of the datasets.
- Created at — select cards based on their creation date.
- Start date — select cards based on the day they entered the 'In Progress' section of a board.
- End Date — select cards that were completed (moved to the 'Done' or 'Ready to Archive' areas) in a time period or do not have an End Date yet (have not been finished).
You can further narrow it down by modifying the operators of the fields.
And select the time frame from the dropdown below.
Note: The following date-related fields: first start date, last start date, first end date, and last end date are not included in the dataset filters yet.
4.1. Cycle Time Configuration
Notes:
- Before using the analytics, make sure you have configured the Cycle Time calculation for the respective board.
- By default, Cycle Time calculation will be enabled only for the "Requested" and "In Progress" stages of your workflows.
The system also allows you to use the "Ignore Cycle Time Configuration" option within the analytics module. In that case, the system takes into account the time cards have spent in each of the process stages (custom columns within the stages). This allows an in-depth analysis of both value-adding activities and queue stages.
In addition, whenever the cycle time calculation for the board is ignored, the total block time for cards will be taken into consideration and displayed in the analytics. If "Ignore Cycle Time Configuration" is not selected, the system will consider the cycle time configuration when calculating the blocked time, meaning that the block time for columns outside the cycle time configuration will be ignored.
Aside from the “Ignore Cycle Time Configuration” option, you can also select the “Ignore the Block Time in Queue Columns" setting. Checkmark it if you don't want the system to account for the time cards were blocked while they were in queue columns.
4.2. Workflow Stages
In addition to the above, the analytics module relies on the cards' transitions along the workflow. Each card has an entry (IN) date in a given column and, respectively, an exit (OUT) date from that column.
Within each chart's settings, you will notice an option to include or exclude some of the workflow stages (columns).
Note: If you have selected more than one workflow in your dataset configuration, the Workflow Stages section will only show the sections according to the cycle time configuration. The reason behind this is that different workflows may have different columns selected in their cycle time configuration.
Even if the "Done" column is not included in your Cycle Time calculation, there would still be an artificial "Done" stage available within the workflow stages:
This stage basically serves the purpose of storing a card's last exit date, i.e. the date on which the card was moved out of the "In Progress" stage (if we take the above image as an example).
Note that if the "Done" stage is deselected via the Workflow Stages, a card's last exit date will be transferred to the previous stage in the process.
Important: If you are experiencing higher loading times or lag when switching between datasets when using the analytics module, you can disable the Animate charts option from the top-right gear icon. This will disable the animations between datasets and shorten the load time.
5. Time Configuration Settings
There are 2 types of Time Configuration Settings:
- Some Analytics Modules have a "Timeline Units" configuration on their right-side menu. The "Timeline Units" configuration is used to select a given time period (days/weeks/months/quarters/years). This time period is the unit that you’d like to split the data by. For example, if you want to see the data grouped by days, if you want to look at several weeks of performance, or by months if you want to look at a whole year's performance.
- Some Analytics Modules have the "Time Units" configuration on their right-side menu. This configuration allows you to choose a specific time unit in which to visualize data for the cards/work items in your process. The available time units include minutes/hours/days/weeks/months/quarters, and years. This is the format you want your data to be measured and visualized. For example, if you want to visualize the exact cycle time of cards, you might want to use the 'minutes' or 'hours' configuration. You can also use the 'calendar day' time unit if your work is driven by client requests. Most clients expect exact delivery dates or ranges that are calendar-based, and configuring your modules by calendar days may be more useful to predict or assess performance when it comes to this type of work.
The default value for both of the time configurations is a calendar day.
Why use the hours/minutes configuration of the time units?
If many cards are processed in under a day, the default (calendar day) visualization on analytics modules like the Cycle Time Scatterplot will not be representative of the difference between their processing times. Configuring the "Time Units" settings from the right menu to hours or minutes, depending on the precision needed, can reveal that some cards take longer than others to be processed.