Have you ever been to a restaurant where you see a single waiter spinning dozens of plates running around? What happens next? The plates eventually fall and break, right?
That’s what happens when your team also juggles too many tasks at once. Here’s where WIP comes to play. This is your secret weapon to bounce back and get your team back on track.
Let’s break the term in two — WIP means Work In Progress, and limit means deciding how much your team can handle at one time without breaking any plates.
Let’s dive deeper into how it works and how you can set one for your team.
What Are WIP Limits?
Work in Progress Limits (WIP Limits) help you control how much work your team should take on at a time.
It works as a traffic signal for your teams, making sure they’re not overloaded with tasks and prevents unnecessary burnout.
WIP Limits are very simple — you can restrict the ongoing tasks in progress, helping your team focus better, limit bottlenecks and boost productivity.
Imagine yourself trying to juggle too many balls, the probability of you dropping a few balls increases.
Hence, WIP Limits ensures you avoid this situation by helping you focus on lesser tasks, so that they’re completed faster and with quality.
WIP Limits are usually part of Kanban and Agile methodologies. They’re employed for process streamlining and smooth collaboration.
You can build a better workflow, remove stress and produce better results. WIP Limits help you work smarter and not harder.
Why are WIP Limits Important?
WIP Limits are game-changers — you can use these limits to manage workflow and keep things running smoothly at your workplace.
By limiting the number of tasks your team can work on at any given time — this is because you end up promoting focus and efficiency.
One of the main benefits of employing WIP Limits is of course improved productivity. Your team members can only dedicate proper attention to each task when they aren’t overloaded. This means fewer errors with faster delivery.
Next, WIP limits boosts visibility. You have a clear overview of who’s dealing what and how much. You can easily identify issues and make adjustments.
What’s the best benefit? The stress level is low. A manageable workload means a happy team fostering a healthier work environment.
WIP also improves quality of work. Your team begins to focus on finishing existing tasks efficiently without worrying about starting another. This leads to better results.
Last but not the least, collaboration is promoted. With fewer tasks on one’s plate, the team members are more active in pitching in and supporting one another.
How To Calculate and Set WIP Limits?
Calculating and setting WIP Limits may sound like a very technical task, but it’s not. You just need some time to understand your team’s workflow and capacity. Let’s look at the steps:
First, quantify your team’s efficiency. Here’s the formula:
Efficiency = VA / (VA + NVA)
VA is the value-adding tasks, whereas NVA is the non-value adding tasks. The segregation and formula helps you recognize the amount of productive work your team can do.
Moving on, based on the efficiency, you can set the ideal number of tasks your team can handle at a time:
Total Tasks = Team Size / Efficiency
Let’s say your team comprises 5 people and your efficiency score is 0.8. Using the formula, it can be concluded that your team can manage up to 6-7 tasks at a time.
Next, you need to assign the WIP Limits to various workflow stages. These workflow stages are:
- To Do
- In progress
- Review
Begin by setting WIP limits a bit below the calculated capacity to be safe. If your team can handle 7 tasks, then set your WIP limit to 5 or 6 tasks only. This helps maintain focus and increases quality of work.
The work is not done yet. After setting these WIP Limits, you need to monitor and make adjustments to them.
How to Track and Review WIP Limits?
Tracking and reviewing the WIP Limits you’ve set is important. This helps you maintain team efficiency and workflow keeps running smoothly.
Use Visual Boards
Use a Kanban or a similar visual board as your best friend to do WIP Limits tracking. It helps you clearly display tasks in different workflow stages.
Your team can easily visualize where the bottleneck lies with the help of To do, In progress and Done columns.
If it’s clearly visible that a column exceeds the WIP limit, you need to emphasize on clearing out older tasks before adding new ones.
Track Key Metrics
You can track two main metrics here:
- The time taken for a task to move through the workflow (Cycle time)
- The number of tasks completed within a specific time frame (Throughput)
They help you measure how successful your WIP limit is. You need to look out for a high cycle time or low throughput, this is the signal that your WIP limits need to be improved.
Hold Regular Reviews
Book regular review meetings with your teams. Treat it as a regular check-up to review the WIP limits.
These meetings can be used to discuss whether the current WIP limits are working or not. For example, if the team continuously hits the limit in the IN progress column, it would mean that the tasks are too huge to complete or the time limit given is too low.
Gather Team Feedback
Your team is out there putting in efforts so treat their input well, respect it. Be sure to ask them about the weight of the WIP Limit, whether it’s manageable or if they’re facing roadblocks.
The feedback will help you adjust your WIP Limits well and make sure everyone feels heard.
Continuously Adjust
Tracking WIP limits is not a one-time thing. It needs continuous improvements. Projects keep evolving and time sizes keep changing.
Not only that, new priorities also keep showing up. Hence WIP limits should be adaptable.
Regularly revisiting and revising it keeps your workflow agile and efficient.
Conclusion
Think of yourself working in an environment where your team skates easily through tasks, bottlenecks disappear and deadlines don’t feel like deadlines anymore.
This is what a well set WIP Limit does for your team. Not only do they help your team be productive, but they also help you to spot issues before they blow up.
Set your WIP Limits today and let productivity take the spotlight!
FAQs
A: A WIP limit is a maximum number of tasks that can be in progress at any one time. WIP limits are used in Kanban to help teams focus on completing tasks individually and avoid overloading themselves with work.
A: WIP limits serve several purposes:
- Prevent work overload: WIP limits help teams avoid taking on more tasks than they can effectively handle. This can lead to stress, burnout, and decreased productivity.
- Encourage focus and productivity: WIP limits help teams focus on completing tasks one at a time. This can lead to better quality work and increased productivity.
- Identify bottlenecks: WIP limits can help teams identify bottlenecks in their workflow. Bottlenecks are areas where work slows down or stops. By identifying bottlenecks, teams can take steps to improve their workflow.
- Facilitate a balanced distribution of work: WIP limits can help teams ensure that work evenly gets distributed among team members. This can help to prevent team members from feeling overwhelmed or underutilized.
A: To reduce your WIP limit, consider the following steps:
- Analyze your current workflow: Evaluate your existing workflow and identify stages where work tends to accumulate or get stuck. This could indicate areas where the WIP limit may be too high.
- Gradually lower the WIP limit: Start by progressively decreasing the WIP limit for specific stages or tasks. Monitor the impact of this adjustment on the flow of work and team productivity. Continue gradually reducing the limit until you find a balance for a smoother workflow.
- Monitor and adjust: Continuously monitor the impact of the reduced WIP limit. Observe the flow of work, team performance, and any potential bottlenecks. Based on the data and feedback from the team, make further adjustments as necessary to achieve an optimal WIP limit.
- Communicate and involve the team: Ensure that the team is aware of the reduced WIP limit and understands the reasons behind it. Encourage their participation in monitoring and adjusting the limit, as their insights and experiences can provide valuable feedback for further improvements.