A CTO reading one timestamp shouldn't have to guess whether it marks the start of implementation or the start of a blocked condition.
The proposed method in TeamStation's source article separates those clocks and records the dependency owner, so the team can investigate why a particular step stopped instead of treating its age as a staffing verdict.
https://teamstation.dev/research/articles/blocker-age-team-topology-signal
Give each clock an event
For this review, start the unfinished-work clock at the team's agreed start event. Start the blocker clock when a named condition prevents the next intended step. An implementation might have been active for days before access became its constraint.
Don't reset the second clock because someone moved the ticket. Stop it when evidence shows the condition cleared. When a task hits another blocker later, preserve a separate interval rather than rewriting the original one.
This is a proposed record design, not a benchmark. Calendar time and working time also need different labels; quietly swapping between them would make comparisons unreliable.
Follow the dependency to a decision
Keep the blocked step, dependency, authorized owner, and clearing evidence in the same approved work record. A link to the relevant request is better than copying sensitive access details into a public dashboard.
For a hypothetical release, completed code review might sit beside unresolved deployment access. The engineer can finish the implementation without having authority to approve that access. The next useful action belongs to the authorized owner, provided the request contains what they need.
The separate analyses of access friction and review latency help keep those conditions distinct.
Check the effect before changing the model
An engineering telemetry review should compare subsequent similar work after a bounded change. Retain the examples that still waited, and record differences in request quality or work type.
That gives a team topology discussion a testable starting point. It doesn't establish causation, rank individual engineers, or justify reorganizing from a single outlier. The method is useful when it changes the next investigation, not when it adds another unlabeled age column.
EngineeringTelemetry #TeamTopology #SoftwareDelivery
Related TeamStation sources:
- Telemetry Predicts Team Performance
- Nearshore Engineering Team Models
- CTO Nearshore Strategy Control Center
- Vetted Nearshore Software Developers
GitHub topic map:
Source asset:
https://teamstation.dev/research/articles/blocker-age-team-topology-signal
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