In Kanban, two key flow metrics often come up in discussions: lead time and cycle time. Although they sound similar, they have distinct meanings and play unique roles in understanding how work moves through your system. This post breaks down the difference between lead time and cycle time, explains how to measure them accurately, and offers practical tips to improve both within a Kanban system.

What Is Lead Time in Kanban?

Lead time refers to the total time it takes for a work item to move from the moment it is requested to the moment it is delivered. It captures the entire customer waiting period.

For example, imagine a customer asks for a new feature on Monday, and the feature goes live the following Monday. The lead time is seven days. It includes all the time the work waits in queues or backlog before development begins, plus the time it takes to actually complete it.

Lead time is a critical indicator of customer experience because it tells you how long users have to wait after placing a request.

What Is Cycle Time in Kanban?

Cycle time, on the other hand, focuses on the active work period. It measures how long it takes to complete a work item once you’ve actually started working on it.

Taking the same feature request example, if development started on Thursday and finished by Monday, the cycle time would be five days.

Cycle time tells you about the efficiency of your internal processes: how long tasks stay in progress, how smoothly work flows, and where bottlenecks might exist.

Lead Time vs. Cycle Time: The Core Differences

Metric	What It Measures	When It Starts	When It Ends
Lead Time	Total time from request to delivery	When the request is made	When the request is delivered
Cycle Time	Active work time	When work starts	When work finishes

Understanding both metrics is vital for any Kanban team. Lead time reflects customer satisfaction, while cycle time reflects team performance.

Why Both Metrics Matter in Kanban

A team focusing only on one metric may miss critical improvement opportunities. For example, reducing cycle time without reducing lead time can result in faster internal processes, but customers may still experience long waits if work sits idle in the backlog.

Using both metrics helps teams balance internal improvements with external outcomes.

To fully master these concepts, pursuing a Kanban certification such as the Kanban System Design certification can provide in-depth knowledge on applying them to real-world Kanban systems.

How to Measure Lead Time and Cycle Time

• Define Clear Start and End Points
  Before you can measure anything, agree on what counts as the start and end for each metric. For lead time, it typically starts when the customer requests something. For cycle time, it begins when the team actively starts the work.
• Use a Digital Kanban Tool
  Many Kanban tools like Jira, Trello, and Azure DevOps can automatically track these metrics for you. Look for built-in analytics or plugins that provide lead and cycle time charts.
• Visualize the Data
  Lead time and cycle time scatterplots or control charts help visualize variation and trends over time. They show not only averages but also the spread, helping teams spot outliers or growing delays.
• Set a Baseline
  Before rushing into improvement efforts, establish your current average lead and cycle times. This gives you a reference point for measuring future improvements.

For those preparing for KMP 1 certification, understanding these measurements is foundational and part of building a Kanban system that supports continuous improvement.

Improving Lead Time and Cycle Time in Kanban

• Limit Work in Progress (WIP)
  By capping the number of tasks in progress, you reduce context switching, avoid overloading the team, and ensure that active work moves smoothly. This leads to lower cycle time.
• Manage Queues and Backlogs
  Work often waits unnecessarily before it even starts. Review how items are prioritized, and avoid letting requests pile up without clear prioritization. This helps shorten lead time.
• Identify and Remove Bottlenecks
  Use a cumulative flow diagram to spot stages where work piles up. Are tasks getting stuck in review? Are handoffs delayed? Focus on clearing these obstacles.
• Improve Process Efficiency
  Automate repetitive tasks, clarify acceptance criteria, and improve team collaboration. These actions help work flow faster, directly reducing cycle time.
• Focus on Smaller Batch Sizes
  Breaking down work into smaller, well-defined units makes it easier to finish tasks faster, reducing both lead and cycle times.

For a deeper dive into designing systems for flow improvement, enrolling in a Kanban System Design certification course offers hands-on techniques and guidance.

Tracking Trends with Lead Time and Cycle Time

Improvement is not a one-off activity. Teams should track their lead time and cycle time over time to monitor trends.

Key questions to ask:

• Are average lead times decreasing over the past few months?
• Is cycle time becoming more consistent, with fewer extreme outliers?
• Are there signs of process drift or hidden bottlenecks returning?

Regular tracking helps teams sustain improvements and avoid backsliding.

Tools and Metrics That Support Kanban Flow

Besides lead time and cycle time, teams can benefit from other flow metrics such as throughput (how many tasks are completed in a set period) and flow efficiency (the percentage of time spent on active work versus waiting).

Teams that combine multiple metrics get a richer understanding of system performance. A well-structured Kanban certification program introduces these broader measurement approaches, helping teams create robust improvement plans.

Final Thoughts

Lead time and cycle time offer complementary views of Kanban system performance. By understanding, measuring, and improving these metrics, teams can enhance both their internal efficiency and the customer experience.

If you’re looking to deepen your mastery of Kanban, consider pursuing the Kanban System Design certification, which equips you with the knowledge to apply these practices effectively.

For further exploration, the Kanban University website offers detailed resources, frameworks, and case studies that expand on these topics.

By staying committed to continuous measurement and improvement, Kanban teams can achieve faster delivery, smoother workflows, and better alignment with customer expectations.

 

Also read - Applying Little’s Law in Kanban for Predictable Delivery

Also see - Service Level Expectations (SLEs) and Kanban Metrics Explained