Canceled Work Insights
Overview
The Canceled Work widget analyzes work items that were started but canceled before reaching production. While some canceled work is normal and can be valuable for learning and innovation, excessive canceled work may indicate process inefficiencies and wasted resources.
Canceled Work Insights include two key insights:
- Active time spent on canceled work: Visualizes the total active time (in days) spent on work that was ultimately canceled
- Percent of work items that were canceled: Illustrates the proportion of work items that were canceled versus completed
These insights help you understand the scope and impact of canceled work in your portfolio, enabling you to make data-driven improvements to your processes and outcomes.
Note: Canceled Work Insights are generated for each Portfolio and Sub-Portfolio that has products that are modeling canceled work.
Getting Started
Select a Portfolio from the navigator or click the organization name to view canceled work insights across all products.
Note: Canceled work insights are only available for Executive and Admin user roles.
Navigate to the Executive Insights tab.
Note: This tab is only available for Executive and Admin user roles.
The Canceled Work widget displays two key insights:
- Active time spent on canceled work
- Percent of work items that were canceled
Important: The Time insight includes the total active time ever spent on canceled work, including time outside of the selected period.
Toggle between views to see each insight.
Use the period selector to choose your desired timeframe.
Note: Only completed periods can be selected in the period selector.
Hover over the info icon to learn more about the canceled work insights.
The indicator at the bottom of the widget shows how many products in your portfolio are tracking canceled work.
Important: A low percentage of products tracking canceled work may mean the insights aren't fully representative of your portfolio's actual waste.
Click View Products to identify which products contribute most to canceled work.
This will bring you to the Portfolio View (or Product List) where you can see trends in canceled work across your portfolio.
Note: The sorting of canceled work depends on your access point. When you navigate directly from the Canceled Work widget, items will be automatically sorted by highest percentage change. However, if you access this view from any other location, the default sort (by product name) will be applied.
Active time spent on canceled work
The time insight highlights the total active time spent on work items that were canceled during the selected period. Analyzing time spent on canceled work helps you identify process inefficiencies and reduce waste across your portfolio.
Understanding the Values
- Shows the total active time spent on work items that were canceled during the selected period
- Displays the overall trend from the previous period using color-coded badges:
- A blue badge represents positive trends (decrease >5%)
- A gray badge represents neutral trends (change between 0-5%)
- A red badge represents negative trends (increase >5%)
- Shows the trend from the previous period in days
- Shows the number of products in the portfolio currently tracking canceled work
- Includes all products in the portfolio, even if they are not tracking canceled work
- Note: Clicking this link sorts the products list by highest percentage change in active time spent on canceled work
- Shows the trend from the previous period by work item type
- Displays the total active time spent on work items that were canceled by work item type.
- Indicates the trend from the previous period in days by work item type
How We Calculate It
- Identify all "Canceled" items during the selected period.
- Sum up all active time ever spent on these items, even if that work happened before the selected period.
- Note: We record the waste when the item is canceled (similar to how accounting handles write-offs).
- Convert the total active time into days.
Note: The same calculations apply when broken down by work item type.
Percent of work items that were canceled
The percent insight compares canceled work items to completed work items, showing the percentage of work that was canceled during the selected period. Understanding the amount of canceled work helps you identify process inefficiencies and opportunities to reduce waste across your portfolio.
Understanding the Values
- Shows the percentage of canceled work relative to completed work across the portfolio during the selected period
- Displays the overall trend from the previous period using color-coded badges:
- A blue badge represents positive trends (decrease >5%)
- A gray badge represents neutral trends (change between 0-5%)
- A red badge represents negative trends (increase >5%)
- Shows the number of products in the portfolio currently tracking canceled work
- Includes all products in the portfolio, even if they are not tracking canceled work
- Note: Clicking this link sorts the products list by highest percentage change in active time spent on canceled work
- Shows the trend from the previous period by work item type
- Displays the percentage breakdown of canceled work by work item type
- Indicates the trend from the previous period by artifact count
How We Calculate It
- Sum up all "Canceled" and "Done" items during the selected period.
- Divide the number of canceled items by the total to get the percentage
Note: The same calculations apply when broken down by work item type.