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Brief-to-Approval Lead Time

The Brief-to-Approval Lead Time card on the VR Dashboard tracks the total time from a project's kickoff to an asset's final approval. This article covers how to read the card and what it means for your team.

This is a read-only metric tile — it updates automatically as projects progress.

What it measures​

Brief-to-Approval Lead Time is the average number of days between a project being created and the first asset in that project receiving an approved decision. It's an end-to-end measure spanning production and review together, not just the review portion.

How to read it​

  • The headline number is the average lead time, in days.
  • A warn marker appears past 21 days, and critical past 30.
  • The sparkline shows the weekly trend so you can see whether lead times are lengthening or shortening.
  • The card needs at least 5 projects that have reached an approval before it shows a value.

Why it matters​

Because this spans the whole production-to-approval cycle, it captures the total cost of getting content to market — including delays that happen before a proof is even submitted for review. If it's trending up while Review Cycle Time is stable, the slowdown is likely happening upstream, in production rather than review.