Understanding Cycle TimeMeasure and improve your delivery speed
What is Cycle Time?
Cycle Time measures the duration from when work begins to when it completes. In Agile, it's a key metric for understanding how quickly your team delivers value. Unlike Lead Time, Cycle Time only measures active work time, excluding wait periods.
Why It Matters
Cycle Time matters because: 1) It reveals true delivery speed - how fast you actually ship, 2) Identifies process inefficiencies - long cycle times indicate bottlenecks, 3) Enables accurate forecasting - historical cycle time predicts future delivery, 4) Drives improvement - teams can set targets and track progress, 5) Improves customer satisfaction - faster delivery means happier customers.
Avg Cycle Time
5.3 days
→P85 Cycle Time
7 days
Throughput
2.0
Total Blocked
9 days
Cycle Time by Item
Cycle Time Distribution
By Priority
Percentile Targets
50% of items complete within this time
85% of items complete within this time
95% of items complete within this time
Add Work Item
Work Items
| Item | Start | End | Cycle Time | Lead Time | Blocked | Priority | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| User Login Feature | 2024-01-01 | 2024-01-05 | 5 days | 5 days | high | ||
| Payment Integration | 2024-01-03 | 2024-01-12 | 8 days | 10 days | 2d | critical | |
| Dashboard UI | 2024-01-05 | 2024-01-08 | 4 days | 4 days | medium | ||
| API Documentation | 2024-01-08 | 2024-01-10 | 2 days | 3 days | 1d | low | |
| Search Feature | 2024-01-10 | 2024-01-18 | 6 days | 9 days | 3d | high | |
| Email Notifications | 2024-01-12 | 2024-01-15 | 4 days | 4 days | medium | ||
| Report Export | 2024-01-15 | 2024-01-22 | 7 days | 8 days | 1d | low | |
| Mobile Responsive | 2024-01-18 | 2024-01-25 | 6 days | 8 days | 2d | high |
Lead Time vs Cycle Time Analysis
Lead Time
6.4 days
Total time from request to delivery
Cycle Time
5.3 days
Time actually working on item
Wait Time
1.1 days average spent waiting vs working
18% of time is spent waiting
Cycle Time Glossary
Cycle Time
The duration from when work begins to when it's completed. Only counts active work, excludes wait time. Key metric for delivery speed.
Lead Time
The duration from when work is requested to when it's delivered. Includes all wait time. Measures total customer wait.
Throughput
The number of work items completed per time period (week, month). Measures delivery volume.
P50 (Median)
50% of items complete within this time. Represents typical performance. Half will be faster, half slower.
P85
85% of items complete within this time. Good for commitments with moderate risk tolerance.
P95
95% of items complete within this time. Very conservative estimate for high-stakes commitments.
Blocked Time
Days when work could not progress due to dependencies, waiting for approval, or other blockers.
WIP (Work In Progress)
Number of items currently being worked on. Too much WIP increases cycle time through context switching.
Bottleneck
A process step that limits throughput and causes items to queue. Identified by long wait times at specific stages.
Little's Law
Throughput = WIP / Cycle Time. Fundamental relationship for understanding flow. Increasing WIP without improving cycle time doesn't help.
Flow Efficiency
Cycle Time / Lead Time. Percentage of time actually spent working. Low flow efficiency means items wait too long.
Cumulative Flow
Visual representation of work items moving through stages over time. Helps identify bottlenecks and trends.