Lead Time and Cycle Time – How to Use the Kanban Metrics
Being one of the Agile frameworks, Kanban offers a way for teams to organize and track project progress on a visual task board. Kanban board is the main, but contrary to what some believe, not the only tool used in Kanban. WIP limits, priority columns, lead time, and cycle time aim to help and guide Kanban teams in the management process.
While most are familiar with WIP limits and priority columns, some still struggle with the more advanced metrics such as lead time and cycle time. Questions like – What do they measure? How do they differ? and How can I use them? are still quite common. So, to set the record straight or to simply remind you, here is an overview of these throughput metrics.
What are lead time and cycle time?
Let’s begin with the definitions of two Kanban metrics:
Kanban lead time is the time it takes for the team to complete an item from the time it was requested (appeared in the Backlog).
Kanban cycle time is the time it takes for the team to complete an item from the time they started working on it.
So, both of the Kanban metrics are averages calculated from the Kanban throughput. A separate lead and cycle time is calculated for every task. Then they are added up and divided by the total number of tasks.
Depending on what type of Kanban board the team uses, this can be done manually (in the case of a physical task board) or calculated automatically (if an online Kanban board like Teamhood is used).
Kanban reporting
Teams can choose two ways to monitor these Kanban metrics – they could follow the overall average changes or compare averages from different time periods (for example, iterations). If nothing else changes, an increase in either of the metrics could signal a new roadblock or issues in the later project phases. And a sudden decline could mean tasks are smaller or the process has become more effective.
The team has to constantly monitor the difference between cycle time and lead time to notice any changes and react with appropriate actions. Now that you know the difference between cycle time vs lead time, let’s see how you can utilize them.
How to use lead time and cycle time?
Tracking it is important no matter how you calculate lead and cycle time. By calculating the averages, lead time gives a good idea of the delivery speed, and cycle time provides an indication of the team’s speed. Thus, following both and noting down changes can give you valuable insight into what is happening with your projects now and what might be happening in the future.
Lead time
Lead time tracks the whole process from the initial request to the product delivery. This includes requirement gathering, analysis, and product shipment. You have a good idea of how long the production of an average item will take and can give clients a more accurate guess on delivery.
For example, if your average product lead time is 2 weeks and you get a more complicated order, you can safely say the delivery will take longer. How much longer depends on your process, but at least you can manage client expectations right out of the gate.
Cycle time
Cycle time, on the other hand, focuses just on the production phase of the process. Thus it has a bit of a different purpose. Instead of informing your clients of the expected delivery date, it aims to track and signal any issues in the production process. Focused only on manufacturing and testing, it can provide great insight into where your own process is lagging and where it could be improved. It can also signal that new roadblocks or issues have arisen.
Lastly, using a combination of these Kanban metrics allows the team to react to changes and adapt more quickly.
For example, if a team notices a sudden increase in cycle time, it is safe to assume that the lead time will also grow. However, for clients with sensitive delivery dates, the team can then take action to fast-track other processes outside manufacturing. Thus still managing to deliver the end result on time. Moreover, such efforts could lead to finding and applying new ways to optimize the process.
Understanding and Calculating Lead Time
Lead time isn’t just a number—it’s a window into your team’s delivery rhythm. It represents the total time from when a task is requested (entered into the backlog) to when it’s delivered to the customer. This metric is crucial for setting client expectations and identifying bottlenecks early.
How to calculate lead time:
The formula is straightforward:
Lead Time = Delivery Date – Request Date
You can track lead time by calculating the difference between start and completion dates. Or, you can let your Kanban software handle it for you. Teamhood tracks lead times automatically. It provides detailed reports and forecasts completion dates using real-time data.
Why lead time matters:
- Estimate with confidence – If your average lead time is 10 days, you can better estimate timelines for similar-sized tasks.
- Spot delays quickly – A rise in lead time usually means issues in gathering requirements or outside dependencies.
- Enhance communication – Knowing lead time trends helps you set stakeholder expectations better.
Advanced lead time tracking:
Instead of relying on a simple average, many Agile teams now track percentiles (like 70th, 80th, or 95th). This approach points out outliers—tasks that take much longer. It gives you a better view of your delivery consistency.
If 95% of tasks finish in 12 days, but a few big items skew the average, you can separate normal flow from unusual cases. This helps with better planning and shows where inefficiencies lie.
In more complex environments, such as manufacturing or logistics, lead time can be split into categories like:
- Customer Lead Time: Request to delivery
- Material Lead Time: Time to acquire necessary components
- Production Lead Time: Time to build once materials are ready
This breakdown helps teams pinpoint exactly where delays originate and optimize each layer of the process.
Evolution into actionable Agile metrics
Using both lead time and cycle time can give valuable insights into the team’s efforts and the overall process. However, in 2015, Daniel S. Vacanti proposed that cycle time could be further utilized to gain even better predictability on item completion. While his book called Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability talks only about cycle time, no doubt the same approach could be taken to measure lead time in Kanban.
To summarize the idea, Mr. Vacanti proposed that just measuring the average does not give teams the full picture and ways to observe and control the cycle time. Instead, he proposed observing the cycle time for all tasks separately and then calculating the 80th and 95th percentiles of the result.
By doing this, the teams can forecast the time it takes them to complete their work with more accuracy. To further explain, if 80% of your items are finished in 4 days, and the item you are talking about seems to be of average complexity, you can expect that item to be completed in 4 days as well.
If an item you are discussing is complex or larger than the average, you may want to look at the 95th percentile to forecast the time required to complete it.
This allowed us to give more accurate predictions to clients; knowing that an item will be delivered with an 80% certainty is definitely better than 50% certainty right? Moreover, monitoring the numbers on the longest delivery dates also allowed the teams to identify the reasons behind them and optimize the process. According to Mr. Vacanti, ideally, the difference between the 50th, 80th, and 95th percentile should be as small as possible, and observing these numbers allows teams to work on reducing them.
Learn more about Kanban Flow metrics.
Summary
Lead and cycle time, as well as actionable metrics, are a great way to take control of Kanban project management. It allows teams to monitor what happens in an otherwise dynamic and changing process.
Lead and cycle time focus on the averages and give a way of understanding what clients can expect in terms of delivery dates and what a manager can expect regarding production speed. At the same time, actionable metrics aim to improve the forecasts of the delivery date by taking a closer look into the cycle time and the main reasons why it is growing or decreasing.
These metrics are a great way to understand your Kanban projects better and improve them when necessary.
Further reading:
- Kanban cheat sheet
- Kanban flow metrics
- Lead time calculator
- Guide to actively managing items on Kanban boards