Project management · Practical guide
Kanban Metrics: WIP, Throughput, Cycle Time and Work Item Age
By My First Task editorial team
Updated
The short answer
How to approach the work
Define the workflow boundaries before measuring anything. Throughput counts finished items per unit of time; cycle time measures started-to-finished elapsed time; age measures started-to-now time for unfinished work. Counts are most useful when work items are reasonably comparable. Metrics should prompt a discussion about flow and bottlenecks, not become targets that encourage splitting or closing tasks just to improve a number.
A practical sequence
- Define exactly when an item starts and finishes.
- Count active items for work in progress.
- Count completed items in a stated period for throughput.
- Measure elapsed time for completed items as cycle time.
- Review the oldest unfinished items and their blockers.
- Use several measures together before changing a workflow policy.
Illustrative scenario · not customer research
Worked example
A workflow finishes fifteen items over five working days: observed throughput is three items per working day. The completed items have sixty combined calendar cycle-days, giving a mean of four calendar days. Those units should not be mixed uncritically in Little's Law: use a common time basis before applying it. Meanwhile, an unfinished task that started seven days ago may deserve review even when the average completed-item cycle time looks healthy.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Mixing calendar-day durations with working-day throughput.
- Treating throughput as a measure of delivered value.
- Ignoring old unfinished items because completed work looks fast.
Try the method with your own inputs
Free tool
Average Cycle Time Calculator
Calculate mean cycle time from the total elapsed days of completed work items.
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Little's Law Calculator
Estimate average cycle time from average work in progress and average throughput in a stable workflow.
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Task Completion Rate Calculator
Calculate the share of a defined task set that meets your team's completion criteria.
ExploreQuestions answered
What is work item age?
Can throughput improve while value falls?
Which metric is most important?
Apply it in a shared workspace
Keep the agreed owner, completion criteria and important decisions with the work. Explore the relevant My First Task feature.
Research context is available in our source library. The worked example above is an editorial illustration.
Continue learning
Project Status Report Template: Progress, Risks and Decisions
A project status report summarizes progress toward an outcome for a stated reporting period. Include completed deliverables, upcoming commitments, risks, changed dates and decisions needed, with an owner for each follow-up.
ExploreCycle Time vs. Lead Time: Boundaries and Worked Examples
Lead time measures elapsed time from a defined request or commitment to completion. Cycle time measures elapsed time from work starting to completion. The difference commonly includes waiting before active work begins.
ExploreAcceptance Criteria Examples: A Practical Writing Guide
Acceptance criteria are observable conditions a particular work item must satisfy before it is accepted. Write them around behavior and evidence, including important failure cases. A definition of done sets broader quality expectations across work items.
ExploreMethod references
Turn the plan into shared work
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