Professional Scrum With Kanban PSK I · Free Practice Question Medium
Question 8
What is the relationship that Little's Law represents?
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A
Average Cycle Time = Average Work in Progress / Average Throughput
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B
Average Work in Progress = Average Cycle Time / Average Throughput
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C
Average Throughput = Average Work in Progress / Average Cycle Time
Reveal correct answer
Correct answer: A
Explanation
This is the textbook definition of Little's Law:
Little’s Law reveals that in general, for a given process with a given throughput, the more things
that you work on at any given time (on average), the longer it is going to take to finish those things (on average). If cycle times are too long, the first action Scrum Teams should consider is lowering WIP. Most of the other elements of Kanban are built upon the relationship between WIP and cycle time. Little's Law also shows us how flow theory relies on empiricism by using flow metrics and data to gain transparency into the historical flow and then using that data to inform flow inspection and adaptation experiments.
Discussion
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