Cross-Team Dependency Simulator

The "Wait Game": See how silos and handoffs destroy flow efficiency.

{{ dept.name }} {{ dept.queue.length }} Wait

Capacity: {{ dept.capacity }}
Item #{{ item.id }}
Worker Idle

Flow Analytics

Avg Lead Time
{{ avgLeadTime }} days
Arrival to Completion
Avg Wait Time
{{ avgWaitTime }} days
Time spent stuck in queues
Avg Touch Time
{{ avgTouchTime }} days
Time actively being worked
Flow Efficiency
{{ flowEfficiency }}%
Touch Time / Lead Time
System Dynamics: Notice how the Functional Silos layout inevitably creates massive queues (Wait Time) at the bottleneck step. Try adding capacity (+) to the bottleneck silo—you'll see the bottleneck instantly shift to another department, creating a new queue. The Stream-Aligned setup drastically improves Flow Efficiency and reduces financial bleed by keeping the item moving continuously.

Cross-Team Dependency Simulator

Welcome! This simulation models the impact of organizational design on flow. It illustrates how functional silos and handoffs destroy efficiency, and how cross-functional teams eliminate wait states.

What this illustrates

  • The Wait Game: Handoffs between specialized departments create massive queues where work spends most of its time waiting, not being worked on.
  • Escalation Detours: When defects require management approval, items are pulled out of flow, further inflating lead times.
  • The Power of Stream-Aligned Teams: Cross-functional teams that own the end-to-end process perfectly absorb arrival rates and eliminate wait queues entirely.

How to use the simulator

  • Select Topology: Toggle between "Functional Silos" and "Stream-Aligned" organizations to observe the different queueing behaviors.
  • Manage Capacity: Dynamically add or remove capacity from bottleneck departments to see how queues shift through the system.
  • Analyze: Watch how Flow Efficiency drops to single digits in siloed environments, and track the devastating financial impact of Cost of Delay.