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Project Management & Agile · Foundational

Cycle Time

The elapsed time from when work starts on an item to when it finishes.

Definition

In the Kanban Guide it is one of four mandatory flow measures, along with WIP, throughput, and work item age. Definitions of start and finish points must be explicit.

Example

A story pulled into development Monday and done Thursday has a cycle time of 4 days.

Exam tip

Cycle time starts at work start; lead time starts at request.

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