Throughput

The number of work items a team completes in a given time period — typically measured per day or per week. Throughput is a key flow metric in Kanban and is analogous to velocity in Scrum. Unlike velocity (which measures story points), throughput counts items regardless of size. Teams use throughput data alongside cycle time to forecast future delivery. For example, if a team consistently completes 8 items per week and the backlog has 32 items, they can forecast approximately 4 weeks of remaining work. Throughput is most useful when combined with item size analysis to understand whether the team is delivering small frequent wins or large infrequent ones.