Read Shortcut Cycle Time Reports Without Mixing Metrics
Shortcut Cycle Time measures time from a Story first entering Started to completion. Use the Cycle Time report to inspect delays within a consistent work scope.
Use completed Stories with meaningful workflow history. Decide the Team, Story type and date range before comparing averages; Lead Time starts at Story creation and answers a different question.
Example: compare completed Payments bug Stories over four weeks, then inspect a slow outlier rather than treating a changing mix of bugs and features as a process regression.
Step-by-step guide
Open and scope the report
Go to Reports and select the Cycle Time chart. Apply the Team, work type and period relevant to the process question rather than starting with an all-workspace average.
Check the measurement definition
Confirm Cycle Time is selected rather than Lead Time. The former starts at first Started state; the latter includes earlier waiting since creation.
Inspect individual completed Stories
Hover or open outliers to read their context and state history. A long-running dependency or reopened investigation may explain a point more usefully than its position alone.
Compare consistent windows
Review the same work type and Team in a preceding period. Use the available trailing average for trend context, then record the actual bottleneck and next investigation.
Common mistakes
Removing time spent waiting for review
Waiting inside the delivery workflow still affects elapsed cycle time. Do not quietly exclude it to make the report look faster.
Sources and verification
Based on product documentation checked on 2026-11-04. This is a documentation-based guide, not a hands-on benchmark. Features and availability can change.