Which metric best indicates how long a contract takes to complete within a CLM workflow?

Which metric best indicates how long a contract takes to complete within a CLM workflow?

• A. SLA adherence
• B. Bottlenecks per stage
• C. Cycle time
• D. Overdue tasks

Answer: (C)

Cycle time is the total time from contract initiation to completion in a CLM workflow. It directly quantifies how long the entire process takes, covering every stage from drafting to signing. That end-to-end duration is exactly what you want when you’re assessing how long a contract takes to complete, rather than looking at targets or partial delays. SLA adherence measures whether you hit predefined service targets, not the actual elapsed time of the whole process. Bottlenecks per stage tells you where delays occur, but it doesn’t give you the full duration from start to finish. Overdue tasks flag late items, but they don’t sum up the entire lifecycle duration. Tracking cycle time lets you see overall speed, compare performance over time or across teams, and drive process improvements.

Cycle time is the total time from contract initiation to completion in a CLM workflow. It directly quantifies how long the entire process takes, covering every stage from drafting to signing. That end-to-end duration is exactly what you want when you’re assessing how long a contract takes to complete, rather than looking at targets or partial delays.

SLA adherence measures whether you hit predefined service targets, not the actual elapsed time of the whole process. Bottlenecks per stage tells you where delays occur, but it doesn’t give you the full duration from start to finish. Overdue tasks flag late items, but they don’t sum up the entire lifecycle duration. Tracking cycle time lets you see overall speed, compare performance over time or across teams, and drive process improvements.