Case study: How we reduced cycle time by 66 percent in 6 weeks

Before transitioning to product management, the author recounts their experience as a project manager, taking over a struggling software project team and focusing on reducing cycle time to improve productivity. By addressing inefficiencies in the cycle time, which was initially three weeks per product backlog item, they managed to cut cycle time by 66% and work-in-progress by 50% over six weeks, leading to better predictability, accurate estimations, and enhanced team morale. Key improvements included setting estimation caps, limiting work items per developer, establishing dedicated code review slots, reducing pull request approvals, and utilizing Slack alerts. The author emphasizes the importance of cycle time as a holistic metric, the value of repository-level data, and the insight gained from team interviews, leading to a more efficient and happier team without needing a fresh start.