When we manage Average Handling Time (AHT), there are several common pitfalls to avoid. One pitfall is over-focusing on speed, which can lead agents to rush through interactions, provide incomplete answers, and generate more follow-up contacts. This behavior can reduce First Contact Resolution (FCR) and ultimately harm customer satisfaction. Another pitfall is creating the wrong incentives, for example rewarding only low AHT, which can drive stress, burnout, and high turnover in the customer service team. A third pitfall is looking at AHT in isolation or in silos, focusing only on the time spent rather than why that time is needed. When we treat AHT only as a speed target, we miss underlying causes such as poor processes, missing content, or inadequate tools. We should instead view AHT primarily as a measure of workload and process friction and use it to identify where we need to improve workflows, content, training, and systems, rather than to pressure agents to work faster at any cost.