Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD)

A Cumulative Flow Diagram visualizes the flow of work across different stages of a process over time.

Purpose

• Track the status of work items in various workflow states
• Identify bottlenecks and process inefficiencies
• Help teams manage flow and improve predictability

Components

• X-axis: Time
• Y-axis: Number of work items
• Colored bands representing work in different states (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Done)

Interpretation

• Width of each band shows the number of tasks in that state
• Stable and smooth flow is indicated by consistent band widths
• Increasing width in a band suggests a bottleneck

Benefits

• Provides insight into workflow efficiency
• Helps optimize cycle time and throughput
• Supports data-driven process improvements

Limitations

• Requires consistent workflow state definitions
• May be complex for beginners to interpret