Business, finance and operations

Lead time for changes

  • Business, finance and operations

Definition

The time from a change being agreed or committed to it being live for users.

Example

A feature started on 3 May and released on 17 May has a lead time of 14 days.

For your role

Choose your role to see what this term means in your work.

Why it matters

Shorter lead times mean faster feedback and value for users.

Where it is used

Engineering metrics and delivery reviews.

How to calculate it

Release date − start date

Worked example

A feature started on 3 May and released on 17 May has a lead time of 14 days.