Two flow metrics from queueing theory, applied to delivery teams. Cycle time measures how long each item takes. Throughput measures how many items finish per period. Linked by Little's Law.
Last updated: 2026-04-01
The time from when work starts on an item to when it's done. Measured in days, per-item. Cycle time tells you how long a customer or stakeholder waits once work begins. The Kanban Guide defines these flow measures.
Best for tracking individual flow efficiency, identifying bottlenecks, and predicting how long a single piece of work will take.
The number of items completed per period: per week, per sprint, per month. Throughput tells you how much the system delivers. Higher is better, all else equal.
Best for forecasting how much a team can deliver in a quarter and for spotting capacity changes.
Cycle time = Time completed - Time startedReport the distribution as well as the average. The 85th percentile means 85% of observed items finished within that time; it is not a guaranteed deadline.
Throughput = Number of items completed in a periodConnected to cycle time via Little's Law: Average WIP = Average throughput rate x Average cycle time. Use the same workflow boundaries and time units in a stable system.
| Criteria | Cycle Time | Throughput |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | Days per item | Items per period |
| Question it answers | How long will this take? | How much can we deliver? |
| Best for | Per-item predictability | Capacity forecasting |
| Connected by | Little's Law | Little's Law |
| Affected by WIP | More average WIP means longer average cycle time at unchanged throughput | Indirectly. Throughput caps at the slowest stage |
| Healthy benchmark | Compare similar work with your historical cycle-time distribution | Trending stable or up at constant scope |
| Common pitfall | Reporting only the average | Splitting items to inflate the count |
| Pairs with | Lead time, WIP | Velocity, cumulative flow |
Pros
Cons
Pros
Cons
Use your own inputs to explore the calculations and compare results.
Lead time starts when a request is made. Cycle time starts when work begins and includes waiting or blocked time before completion. Define the start and finish points consistently.
Track cycle time, throughput, and work in progress (WIP) together. They show how long items take, how many finish, and how much work is underway.
Compare similar work against your own history and delivery needs. Feature work and urgent bug fixes may need different expectations. The 85th percentile can support a forecast, but it is not an upper bound or a universal two-week target.
Throughput counts completed items per period. Velocity usually sums the story points on completed work per sprint. Both describe output, but neither directly measures customer value, and both can be distorted by changing how work is divided.
Little's Law relates averages: WIP equals throughput rate times cycle time in a stable system. At the same average throughput, twice the average WIP implies twice the average cycle time. A WIP limit can help manage flow, but changing the limit may also change throughput.