CA-06
Preparation Stage Band Instability
CFD Advanced
Default severity: medium
PrioritizationProcessMetricsOutputRisk
What it detects
The configured preparation stages (analysis, ready) have irregular or very thin bands — insufficient preparation pipeline before active statuses. Ratio vs active statuses is configurable.
Detection formula
prep_stages = config.workflow.preparation_stages // e.g. \[\'Analysing\', \'Ready\'\] active_stages = config.workflow.active_statuses FOR each_stage P IN prep_stages: ratio = avg_band_height(P) / MAX(avg_band_height(A) for A in active_stages) IF ratio \< config.ca.prep_to_dev_min_ratio // default: 0.10 THEN FLAG starvation_riskExamples in practice
- A team shows the configured preparation stages (analysis, ready) have irregular or very thin bands while preparation stages is set to Configured per workspace.
- Example signal: The configured preparation stages (analysis, ready) have irregular or very thin bands — insufficient preparation pipeline before active statuses.
Suggested response
Use planning-event context when interpreting advanced CFD bottlenecks, spikes, and ageing WIP.
Coaching playbook
Symptom
The configured preparation stages (analysis, ready) have irregular or very thin bands — insufficient preparation pipeline before active statuses. Ratio vs active statuses is configurable.
Why it matters
When "Preparation Stage Band Instability" keeps appearing, the team is signalling a repeatable process gap. Left unexamined, the pattern hides where work really stalls and makes improvement metrics harder to trust.
What you can achieve
Use planning-event context when interpreting advanced CFD bottlenecks, spikes, and ageing WIP.
Facilitation questions
- What system change would stop "Preparation Stage Band Instability" from firing again?
- What do the cited issues have in common — same root cause or same workaround?
- Who owns the two-week experiment and how will we verify on the next import?
Run this rule against your own tracker data with Flow Analyzer.