Work in Progress Limit

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Work in Progress (WIP) limit as part of Kanban is a strategy to prevent overproduction and promote productivity. WIP limits restrict the maximum amount of work items in the different stages of the workflow. Limiting WIP is the defining characteristic of Kanban, and it serves to reveal bottlenecks and backups in the team's workflow due to issues that are currently being worked on. This results in a smoother flow of work, quicker identification of blockers, and an overall increase in throughput and productivity.

Guide to Work-in-Progress (WIP) Limit in Scrum-Kanban

What is WIP Limit?
In Scrum-Kanban, Work-In-Progress (WIP) limit is a strategy used to prevent overloading of teamwork and to maintain a smooth flow of work. It sets an upper limit on the number of work items that can be in progress at a certain stage in the workflow.

Why is it important?
WIP limits are vital as they help in reducing multitasking, revealing bottlenecks, increasing throughput, and improving the predictability of the cycle times.

How it works?
Limiting work in progress implies that a pull system is implemented on parts or on the whole workflow. This ensures that a team maintains focus and delivers work incrementally.

Exams Tips: Answering Questions on Work in Progress Limit
1. Understand the essence: Remember that the purpose of WIP limits is to enhance efficiency and productivity, by preventing overworking and managing workflow.
2. Refer to real-life scenarios: To better answer, illustrate with real-life examples where WIP limits have improved work process.
3. Specify its advantages: To highlight its importance, always include the primary benefits - reducing multitasking, revealing bottlenecks, and improving throughput.
4. Language is key: Answer in clear, concise language. Applying the right terminologies goes a long way so remember terms like 'pull system' and 'incremental delivery'.
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PSM I - Work in Progress Limit Example Questions

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Question 1

A critical task has been identified mid-sprint that must be addressed immediately, exceeding the WIP limit. As a Scrum Master, how do you handle the excess work?

Correct Answer: Introduce the task only after ensuring it doesn't affect the agreed sprint scope and engage team in workload balancing in such a way it respects the WIP limit.

The best approach when a critical task is identified mid-sprint that must be addressed immediately, is to first ensure that this task does not affect the agreed sprint scope. This is important as it could disrupt the commitment made by the team at the start of the sprint. Then, the Scrum Master should engage the team in workload balancing in order to ensure the Work In Progress (WIP) limit is respected. This approach ensures that the task is added in a way that minimizes disruption to the team's workflow and maintains the integrity of the sprint. The other answers are incorrect. Increasing the WIP limit to accommodate the new task can lead to teams overburdening themselves leading to decreased quality and burnout. Ignoring the WIP limit and allocating the task to a team member can undermine the purpose of the limit which is to ensure focus and manage workflow. Asking the product owner to remove another task from the sprint backlog to make space for the new task without negotiating this with the team can disrupt their agreed upon work and commitments.

Question 2

In a newly formed Scrum team, some team members are pushing for a higher WIP limit, arguing that it would speed up the work. As a Scrum Master, how would you respond to this situation?

Correct Answer: Advocate for starting with a conservative WIP limit to ensure focus and quality, then adjust based on team capacity and retrospection insights.

In Scrum and Kanban, the purpose of setting Work In Progress (WIP) limits is to ensure that the team focuses on completing tasks before taking on more work, thus avoiding multitasking and ensuring better quality and predictability in the delivery. Starting with a conservative WIP limit allows the team to get a sense of their capacity and adjust based on actual performance and insights gathered during retrospectives. Increasing sprint length, setting individual WIP limits, or removing them altogether may lead to a loss of focus, lower quality, and reduced team predictability, which does not align with Agile principles of sustainable pace and continuous improvement.

Question 3

Your scrum team is planning their next sprint, but the proposed sprint backlog has more items than the WIP limit. The Product Owner insists all items are critical. As a Scrum Master, how do you advise the team?

Correct Answer: Prioritize the backlog items based on value and the team's capacity aligning it with the WIP limit.

The best practice is to prioritize the backlog items based on value and the team's capacity aligning it with the Work In Progress (WIP) limit. WIP Limits are put in place to ensure that the team is not overcommitted and can maintain a sustainable pace of work. Asking the team to work overtime is not a long-term solution and could lead to burnout, thus it's not the recommended approach. Increasing the WIP limit or removing the WIP limit may seem like quick solutions, but they do not address the root of the problem, which is an overloaded backlog. Without prioritization, items of lower value may be worked on before more important, high-value items, leading to less efficient use of time and resources.

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