Standard handle time
Objective. Define standard handle time as the agreed expected time per unit of work and establish it as the standard that earned time and attainment depend on.
Standard handle time is the agreed answer to 'how long should this take?'. Everything that compares actual time to expectation - attainment, earned time, required capacity - rests on it, so a weak standard quietly corrupts all of them.
See it in the demo
Definition
Standard handle time is the expected, agreed amount of time one unit of a given work type should take under normal conditions. It is a standard, set and maintained by the organisation, not an average of whatever actually happened - though it is usually informed by observed data and judgement.
How it is calculated
At app-logic level a standard handle time is established per work type (and often per complexity band) from a mix of observed handling data, benchmarks and expert review, then held as the agreed standard. It is a per-unit time, not a sum. How standards are derived, reviewed and versioned is a product and customer process, so confirm with product how a given customer's standards were set and how current they are - never present a standard as a formula or a fact without that provenance.
How to read it and the common misread
Read standard handle time as the yardstick: actual time per unit is compared to it to judge pace, and it drives earned standard time and required capacity. The common misread is treating a stale or unvalidated standard as truth - if the standard is wrong, attainment and capacity figures are wrong in the same direction. A second misread is comparing actual times across work of different complexity without complexity-banded standards.
Where it appears
Standard handle time underpins standards and benchmarks in Work Output and handling standards in Capacity Planning. How standards are set and maintained is SME-validation-pending; confirm with product.
Interpretation check
Standard handle time is an agreed expected time per unit, not an average of actuals; every attainment and capacity figure inherits the quality of this standard.
Practical task
In the demo, find a standard handle time for one work type, then write one line on what you would ask a customer to establish that the standard is current and complexity-aware before you let attainment figures rest on it.
Self-check
Why does an unvalidated standard handle time endanger every figure built on it?
Attainment, earned standard time and required capacity all compare actuals to the standard. If the standard is too loose or too tight, those figures move with it, so a weak standard silently distorts all downstream numbers.
Is standard handle time just the average of past handling times?
No. It is an agreed standard for how long work should take, usually informed by data but set with judgement and complexity in mind. Treating it as a raw average bakes in past inefficiency as the expectation.
What must you confirm with product before using a customer's standard?
How the standards were derived, whether they are complexity-banded, and how recently they were reviewed - their provenance and currency determine whether they can be trusted.
Verified vs demo. Standards and benchmarks are shown in the Work Output demo; how standard handle times are derived, banded and maintained is SME-validation-pending - confirm with product.