Limit WIP doesn't mean doing less
March 26, 2013
I’m coaching in an organization new to agile practices. This challenges my assumptions, like explaining practices I’ve taken for granted. Recently, a dialogue unfolded:
Me: You’re doing a lot at once here… Product Owner: Yes, but we’ve promised to finish a lot by [date]. Me: Why not limit your work in process (WIP)? It speeds things up… PO: What do you mean? We can’t limit work. We must complete this [pointing to board] now, as fast as we can.
I realized I missed explaining WIP (work in process) and why stakeholders aren’t concerned about it.
First, what’s a WIP limit? It’s a team agreement on how much work to take on at once. It’s flexible and guides our work to flow smoothly.
In Scrum, teams commit to work for a sprint, ensuring balance and commitment. WIP limits serve the same purpose—controlling how much work to take on at once....