Cycle time is the median time between when a ticket enters an Active status and the final Done status in its lifecycle.
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Which reports use Cycle time?
See Cycle time in reports like Metrics overview, Retrospective, and Check-in.
Since Cycle time is also associated with individual tickets, see Cycle time per ticket in Sprint movement and Ticket log.
What does Cycle time measure?
Cycle time helps you understand the lifecycle of your tickets. It tells you how long it takes you to get work done once you start. It excludes lead time like planning, establishing product requirements, and gathering stakeholder alignment so you can know how long you can expect work to take once it begins.
Tip: Use this metric along with Queue time to see what proportion of your Cycle time is spent actively working versus waiting for something so you can take the next step.
Long-running ticket Cycle time is costly to your business. Paying attention to Cycle time will help you identify workflow inefficiencies that are costing you time, resources, and money. It also gives you the ability to spot trends, identify outliers, and make recommendations.
How is Cycle time calculated?
Cycle time is the time between when a ticket first enters an Active status and when it enters the final Done status in its lifecycle. Cycle time is only calculated once a ticket enters a Done state.
Because Cycle time is defined by the final Done status for a ticket, if a ticket moves from one Done state to a different one at a later time, the Cycle time will update to reflect the time between the first Active state and this newest Done state.
In all reports where Cycle time is represented in aggregate, Flow uses a median calculation to represent the Cycle time value. There will always be outlier tickets—some that take longer than normal because of unplanned roadblocks, and some that move rapidly because of outside pressures. By using a median calculation, Flow reduces the impact of those outliers to help you gauge the most useful measure of how long it takes to complete a normal ticket.
Note: If a ticket has a Cycle time of zero, it means the ticket was moved directly from a Not started or unassigned status to a Done status. If you see this regularly, evaluate your ticket project configurations to ensure all statuses are correctly mapped and encourage your team to update their ticket statuses as they're working on their tickets.
What data is included in Cycle time?
Tickets are included in Cycle time if:
- They are moved to their final Done status during the selected time period
- The selected user or a member of the selected team was an assignee on the ticket at any point once it moved into an Active status
Tickets are not included in Cycle time if:
- They have not been moved to a Done status
- They are in a Canceled status
- The selected user or a member of the selected team has never been an assignee on the ticket or was only an assignee before the ticket moved into an Active status
- They have never had an assignee
- Their issue type has been excluded as part of ticket type assignment in ticket project configuration