Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) Chart

What is Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) Chart?

GG-Logo---40x40px.png The Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) Chart is available either through this standalone app or as part of Great Gadgets for Jira, the complete bundle that provides a broader collection of dashboard gadgets in a single app.

Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) Chart is a Jira dashboard app that helps Scrum, Kanban, SAFe®, ITSM, and other teams visualize how work moves through their workflow and maintain a stable and predictable flow.

Track how work accumulates across statuses or board columns, monitor WIP and backlog growth, analyze flow distribution, identify bottlenecks, and detect workflow or capacity problems before they affect delivery.

The app helps you answer questions such as:

  • How much work is currently in each workflow stage?

  • Is WIP increasing, decreasing or remaining stable?

  • Is the backlog growing or shrinking?

  • Where is work accumulating in the workflow?

  • Are any statuses or board columns becoming bottlenecks?

  • Is incoming demand outpacing the team’s completion rate?

  • How is work distributed across statuses, work item types, projects or other relevant dimensions?

  • Is the team’s delivery flow stable and predictable?

Key features

A complete view of your workflow

Visualize how work moves through your Jira workflow over time. Each colored band represents a workflow stage or another selected category, making it easier to identify changing queues, growing WIP and potential bottlenecks.

Multiple data sources

Create the CFD using data from:

  • Jira agile boards

  • Saved filters

  • JQL queries

  • Epics

  • Portfolio-level work items, such as initiatives or themes

This allows you to analyze flow for a single team, multiple projects, a sprint, an epic or a broader delivery initiative.

Configurable chart bands

Define what the bands displayed in the chart represent. You can create bands based on:

  • Jira status categories

  • Individual workflow statuses

  • Board columns

  • Board-column categories

  • Work item types

  • Values of another supported Jira field

This lets you visualize flow at the level of detail that is most relevant to your team.

Flexible flow measurement

Calculate the work displayed in each band using:

  • Work Item Count

  • Story Points

  • Original Time Estimate

  • Other numerical custom fields available in Jira

You can also include sub-tasks when they should contribute to the calculation.

Flexible reporting periods

Analyze flow using custom start and end dates, a rolling number of days, the dates of a Jira release or the dates of a selected sprint. You can also automatically use the latest or previous sprint.

Flow distribution as a percentage

Display the CFD as a percentage of the total to understand how work is distributed across workflow stages, independently of changes in the overall volume of work.

Configurable workflow view

Exclude bands that are not relevant, arrange the bands in a custom order and hide weekends to make the chart reflect your team’s workflow and reporting needs.

Customizable chart display

Customize chart colors, legends, gridlines, time intervals and other display options. Use scroll zoom to focus on a specific part of the reporting period.