Commonly confused
Cycle Time vs Lead Time
Lead time measures the full wait a customer experiences — from the moment a request is created until it's delivered. Cycle time measures only the active work — from when your team starts it until it's done. Lead time always includes cycle time plus however long the request sat in the backlog, so lead time ≥ cycle time and the gap between them is queue time.
Cycle Time vs Lead Time, in short
- Lead time measures the full wait a customer experiences — from the moment a request is created until it's delivered. Cycle time measures only the active work — from when your team starts it until it's done. Lead time always includes cycle time plus however long the request sat in the backlog, so lead time ≥ cycle time and the gap between them is queue time.
- When to use cycle time: Use cycle time to gauge and improve how fast your team executes once work is actually picked up.
- When to use lead time: Use lead time to understand the end-to-end wait your customers and stakeholders actually feel.
| Aspect | Cycle Time | Lead Time |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cycle time is how long an issue takes from the moment work actively starts on it to the moment it is done. Measured in hours or days, it captures the team's hands-on flow efficiency. Shorter, more consistent cycle times mean a more predictable system — the core flow metric Kanban teams optimize. | Lead time is the total elapsed time from when an issue is first created or requested to when it is delivered. Unlike cycle time, it includes the waiting period in the backlog before work begins. Lead time reflects the customer's experience of how long a request actually takes end to end. |
| When to use it | Use cycle time to gauge and improve how fast your team executes once work is actually picked up. | Use lead time to understand the end-to-end wait your customers and stakeholders actually feel. |
| Full definition | Cycle Time | Lead Time |