Limit Work in Progress
Pipes that aren't clogged increase the flow through the system
What is it?
Instead of taking on all tasks that people hand to you as a person or representative of your team, you don’t accept new tasks unless you still have free capacity.
Why use it?
Usually people take on all new tasks that come in, especially when a task they work on is waiting on external input. Then suddenly 3 of these tasks can continue and the person doesn’t have the time to finish all of the same time. So the person gets overloaded, nobody knows how the progress is, and tasks get stuck in a progressed state where nobody else can help.
If one makes sure to only work on one task and then on the next one doesn’t get overloaded. That means the person stays responsive, flexible and the status stays visible. If a task gets stuck waiting on external resources the person can help reducing this external dependency or making it more visible at least, to the rest of the team.
Further Information
- Kanban WIP Limits
- Example projects (video)
- Image source: “Pipes, Valves and Gauges” by Coggleswort00 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0