Work in Progress (WIP)
Work in Progress
The total amount of work that has been started but not yet completed at any given point in time, with WIP limits being a key technique for improving flow efficiency.
In-Depth Explanation
Work in Progress (WIP) represents all the work items that have been started but not yet finished. In Lean and Kanban, managing WIP is critical to maintaining flow efficiency and reducing cycle times.
Why WIP matters:
- Little's Law: Lead Time = WIP / Throughput. Reducing WIP directly reduces lead time.
- Context switching: High WIP forces people to switch between tasks, reducing productivity
- Quality impact: More WIP means less attention per item, increasing errors
- Transparency: WIP makes overload visible and enables proactive management
- Flow efficiency: Lower WIP improves the ratio of active work time to wait time
WIP limits in Kanban:
- Set maximum items per column (e.g., "In Progress: 3" means only 3 items at a time)
- When a column reaches its WIP limit, no new items can be pulled in until one completes
- This creates a "pull" system where work is pulled when capacity is available
- WIP limits make bottlenecks visible (if a column is consistently at its limit, it is a constraint)
Setting WIP limits:
- Start with a limit equal to the number of team members (or slightly higher)
- Observe the impact on flow and adjust
- Lower limits create more focus but may cause idle time
- Higher limits provide flexibility but reduce the benefits
- The goal is to find the sweet spot that maximises throughput
WIP at different levels:
- Personal WIP: Items a single person has in progress (ideally 1-2)
- Team WIP: Total items the team has in progress
- Organisation WIP: Total projects or initiatives underway across the organisation
Reducing organisational WIP:
- Prioritise ruthlessly (say no to some projects)
- Finish projects before starting new ones
- Avoid splitting people across too many projects
- Use timeboxing to limit investment in uncertain initiatives
- Make WIP visible at the portfolio level
Business Context
Reducing WIP is one of the most effective ways to improve delivery speed and quality. Organisations that focus on finishing work rather than starting new work consistently deliver faster with fewer defects.
How Clever Ops Uses This
Clever Ops applies WIP management principles in client projects, helping Australian businesses focus on finishing work rather than starting new work. We implement WIP limits on project boards and help organisations reduce portfolio-level WIP for better overall delivery performance.
Example Use Case
"A team implements a WIP limit of 2 items per developer. When one developer finishes their work, they help a colleague complete their item (swarming) rather than starting something new, reducing average cycle time by 35%."