Progress Tracking

Progress tracking is monitoring how work evolves over time—capturing state transitions (To Do → In Progress → Done), ownership changes (Alice → Bob), dependency resolutions, and velocity patterns. Unlike static status snapshots, progress tracking understands the journey: what happened, when, why, and who was involved.

Progress tracking is powered by temporal memory and event timelines. It answers questions like: "Is Project Alpha on track?", "Which tasks have been stalled for >7 days?", "How fast are we completing work?", "What's blocking progress?" This context enables proactive management, pattern detection, and data-driven decisions.

The outcome is teams and leaders who spot problems early, understand velocity trends, and manage work based on evidence, not intuition.

Why it matters

• Enables early problem detection: Stalled tasks, recurring blockers, and velocity drops surface automatically—before they become crises.
• Provides data-driven insights: "We complete 15 tasks/week historically, this week only 8—what changed?" replaces guesswork.
• Supports accountability: Ownership changes are tracked—clear responsibility and handoff history.
• Improves forecasting: Understanding historical velocity and patterns enables better timeline estimates.
• Reduces status sync overhead: Automated tracking eliminates "what's the status?" questions—data is always current.
• Facilitates retrospectives: Post-project reviews benefit from accurate timelines, not faulty recall.

How it works

Progress tracking operates through event capture, temporal indexing, and pattern detection:

• Event Capture → Every state change, assignment, and milestone is recorded: "Task 123 moved to In Progress Nov 1 10:15am by Alice."
• Timeline Building → Events are sequenced chronologically: Task created → assigned → started → blocked → resumed → completed.
• Metadata Enrichment → Events include context: who triggered change, why (blocker added: "waiting on design review"), impact (velocity affected).
• Pattern Detection → The system identifies trends: "5 tasks stalled in In Progress for >7 days," "Velocity dropped 30% this sprint," "3 blockers in Gamma project added in 2 weeks."
• Query and Alerts → Users query: "Show me stalled tasks," "What's our velocity trend?" Agents proactively alert: "Task 101 has been blocked for 5 days with no updates."
• Visualization → Progress is displayed: burndown charts, timeline views, velocity trends—grounded in temporal memory.

This pipeline transforms raw events into actionable progress insights.

Comparison & confusion to avoid

Examples & uses

Sprint progress tracking
Team queries: "How's our sprint progressing?" Memory returns: "8/10 planned tasks completed, 2 tasks blocked (API dependency, design review). Velocity: 85% of plan (down from 95% last sprint). Pattern detected: 3 tasks stalled in In Progress >3 days—check with owners." Team addresses stalls proactively.

Project milestone tracking
Leadership queries: "Is Project Alpha on track for Dec 1 launch?" Memory returns: "15/20 milestones complete. 3 milestones at risk (Task 45: blocked, Task 67: no owner, Task 89: overdue 5 days). Based on current velocity: Dec 8 likely completion—7 days behind." Leaders decide whether to adjust scope or deadline.

Blocker detection and alerting
Agent monitors progress: "Task 101 moved to Blocked status on Nov 3 (reason: waiting on legal review). No updates for 5 days." Alert sent: "Task 101 blocked for 5 days—owner: Bob, blocker: legal review. Recommend follow-up." Proactive intervention prevents further delay.

Best practices

• Track state transitions with timestamps: "Task moved to In Progress" should include when and by whom—temporal context is critical.
• Record why changes happen: "Blocked" should include reason: "waiting on API fix," "design review pending"—context aids resolution.
• Monitor velocity trends: Track tasks completed per week/sprint—detect slowdowns early.
• Set stall thresholds: Alert when tasks are in one state too long (e.g., >7 days In Progress with no updates).
• Track ownership changes: "Task 123 transferred from Alice to Bob on Nov 5"—handoffs affect progress.
• Combine quantitative and qualitative: Velocity numbers + blocker reasons = complete picture.

Common pitfalls

• Only tracking current state: "5 tasks in progress" is less useful than "2 tasks stalled for 7 days"—temporal awareness matters.
• No blocker tracking: Knowing tasks are blocked without capturing why or how long limits problem-solving.
• Ignoring velocity trends: Teams assume consistent progress—velocity analysis reveals slowdowns that simple status hides.
• Manual tracking: If progress depends on people updating status, it's stale—automate event capture from tools.
• No proactive alerts: Waiting for people to query progress misses problems—agents should surface stalls and risks.

See also

• Temporal Memory — Time-aware memory enabling progress tracking
• Event Timeline — Chronological record of work evolution
• Operating Memory — Shared memory reflecting current work state
• Status Brief — Synthesized summaries including progress updates
• Operating Review — Reviews informed by progress tracking data

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See how Graphlit enables Progress Tracking with agent memory → Agent Memory Platform