Defining Lead Time, Cycle Time, and Throughput

Lead time is the total time it takes for a piece of work to be completed, from the point of initiation to the point of delivery. In Agile development, lead time is typically measured for user stories or features. So, this is the time from Backlog to all the way to "Done".

Cycle time is the time it takes for a piece of work to be completed once it has started. In Agile development, cycle time is typically measured for individual tasks or technical work items e.g. time taken from "Dev in Progress" to "Acceptance test Start"

Cycle time is a subset/part of the Lead Time. Cycle time is closely related to the work in progress (WIP) and excessive WIP can cause bottlenecks, delay, risk of money spent and re-work. Cycle time can be calculated by dividing WIP by throughput. 

Cycle Time = WIP/Throughput 

Throughput is the number of items that a team completes within a given period of time. It is a measure of how much work a team is able to accomplish.

Both cycle time and throughput are important metrics for Agile teams, as they provide valuable insights into the efficiency and effectiveness of the development process. By measuring and monitoring cycle time and throughput, teams can identify bottlenecks, optimize their workflow, and improve overall performance.

For example, if a team has a high throughput but a long cycle time, it may indicate that the team is starting too many tasks or user stories before completing others, causing delays and inefficiencies. On the other hand, if a team has a low throughput but a short cycle time, it may indicate that the team is not taking on enough work.

Therefore, both cycle time and throughput must be considered together to get a complete picture of a team's performance.


Location: San Francisco, CA, USA

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