Tracking cycle time metrics of stories that are put on hold or moved back to 'To Do' state

[Nayana Geddam]

Regarding how cycle time is tracked in Jira, does putting a user story on hold "stop the clock", so to speak, on the cycle time attributed to a given user story?

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Nayana Geddam 

Do you mean the information shown on Jira's interpretation of the control chart?  If so please see this (emphasis below is from me):

Cycle time is the time spent working on an issue — typically, the time taken from when work begins on an issue to when work is completed, but it also includes any other time spent working on the issue. For example, if an issue is reopened, worked on, and completed again, then the time for this extra work is added to the cycle time.

Here is the reference for that information:

https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/view-and-understand-the-control-chart/

Best regards,
Bill

[Nayana Geddam]

Thanks @Bill Sheboy

Is the amount of time spent in "On Hold" status counted for cycle time metrics or not? 

Since "ON HOLD" is not one a default out of the box status, I am assuming it is at the instance'/team's discretion how they customize it for calculating cycle times. 

[Bill Sheboy]

If you have implemented "on hold" as a status, you are correct: you can decide if that value is or is not included.

You may want to consider doing both: measure without "on hold" to see the time to do-work and with "on hold" to see its impact on slowing progress.