Cycle Time

The time elapsed from when a team begins actively working on a task to when that task is delivered to the customer. Cycle time is one of the primary flow metrics in Kanban. It measures how long the team takes to complete work once they start — it excludes time items spend waiting in the backlog. Shorter cycle times mean faster feedback and more responsive delivery. By measuring and analyzing cycle time distributions, teams can make delivery time commitments with statistical confidence (e.g., '85% of items are done within 5 days'). Cycle time is influenced by team size, WIP limits, work complexity, and process efficiency.