Throughput measures the number of completed work items in a defined period. It's the most direct indicator of team delivery capacity.
What it measures
How many issues, PRs, or items the team finishes per day, week, or month, depending on your selected window.
How Leanmote calculates it
throughput = count(items_completed_in_period)
Completion uses explicit workflow transitions (e.g., the
donestate timestamp) — not arbitrary "closed" labels.Segmentable by issue type (feature, bug, chore) so the total isn't a mixed-signal number.
Reported on rolling 7, 14, and 30-day windows to reduce calendar noise.
How to interpret it
Trend direction matters more than the absolute number. Compare to the previous period and to the team's running average.
Throughput per FTE normalizes for team-size changes and is fairer to compare across teams.
If throughput is volatile week-to-week, your work mix is probably uneven (mix of S/M/L items). Use cycle-time distribution to confirm.
What to do about it
If throughput is dropping while WIP is rising, the team is overloaded — pull WIP down before adding more work.
If throughput is flat but cycle time is rising, items are getting larger. Slice them earlier.
Use throughput together with cycle time to forecast — Little's Law gives you a quick capacity model.
Related metrics
Cycle Time
Work in Progress (WIP)
Active Days
Flow metrics overview