6 Tips to Slash Lead Time for Changes (DORA Metric)

Shipping code fast feels great, but if you can't get it to production quickly, your users won't see the value. Lead time for changes is a hidden killer of team velocity that separates elite teams (who ship within a day) from average teams (who take weeks or months).

We've identified six practical strategies to dramatically reduce your lead time to change, drawn from real-world experience. By measuring where your code gets stuck, optimizing PR reviews, maintaining fast CI pipelines, automating governance, shipping in small batches, and implementing self-service environments, you can transform your delivery speed.

The biggest revelation for most teams? PR reviews are likely your biggest bottleneck. Keep those PRs small (under 300 lines), set clear expectations for review times, and watch your lead time shrink dramatically. And don't underestimate the power of ephemeral environments - they can cut environment setup from days to minutes and slash lead time from days to hours.

Ready to stop waiting and start shipping? These practical techniques will help you deliver value to users faster without sacrificing quality.

📒 Chapters 📒
00:00 - Introduction to shipping code fast
00:21 - Understanding lead time for changes
00:35 - Overview of six strategies to reduce lead time
00:50 - Strategy 1: Instrument the waiting time
01:23 - Strategy 2: Address the PR review process
02:46 - Strategy 3: Keep your CI pipeline fast
03:17 - Strategy 4: Automate your governance
03:35 - Strategy 5: Ship small in safe batches
03:56 - Strategy 6: Implement self-service environments
04:59 - Final recommendations and conclusion
05:10 - Additional resources and outro

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