Limiting work in progress

Limit work in progress by agreeing how many items may occupy a defined part of the workflow at once, then start another when capacity opens. Make competing commitments visible. State how the team handles blocked work, service duties and urgent exceptions.

Decide what the limit covers

Map an item's actual path from commitment to delivery. Mark where work happens, where it waits and when the recipient can use the result. An item waiting for review stays visible even if the team is not actively working on it.

Choose a boundary: a team activity, specialist review step, work type or the whole flow. State which items count. If one item is a small correction and another a month-long project, describe or split the work so the count is useful.

Choose an initial limit the team can observe, then adjust it after reviewing delivery, waiting and service coverage. There is no universal number. A shared list can make the rule visible if the team does not use a board.

Say what happens when the limit is full

A limit needs an entry rule. When the defined space is full, finish an item, help unblock one or ask the priority owner what should pause before another starts. Do not quietly add new work while leaving the previous commitment nominally active.

Agree how genuine exceptions enter. A live service issue may need a separate response route, but record any work it displaces. If exceptions become routine, review incoming demand, service coverage and the limit itself.

Pros and cons of setting work-in-progress limits

Keep blocked work visible

Give a blocked item a named dependency and next check. Whether it counts towards a particular limit depends on the boundary the team defined; moving it out of that count must not hide it from the overall work view. If people can do useful work while waiting, agree when the blocked item returns to active attention.

A full activity can point to oversized items, delayed approvals, missing skills or demand beyond capacity. Speak with the people doing and receiving the work before changing the number. Raising the limit alone may leave the cause of waiting intact.

Review the rule against the work

Inspect a few recent items: where did they wait, which were completed, which were interrupted, and could recipients use the result? Check whether urgent work and routine service were covered without repeated exceptions. Adjust the boundary, item size or limit when the work warrants it.

A work-in-progress limit manages flow; it is not a target for keeping every person fully occupied. If necessary work regularly exceeds available skills or reasonable working time, raise the workload and resourcing decision with the people who can change it.

Work-in-progress limits: before vs after implementation