Work in Progress (WiP)
Jan Neudecker
0 min. reading time
Work in Progress refers to the number of items a team is actively working on. In Kanban, limiting WIP is one of the six core practices and helps improve flow and focus.
WIP limits can be set per process step (like design, development, or testing), or from a broader perspective, for example, how many topics the whole team is tackling at once.
When teams reduce WIP, they collaborate more, share knowledge more easily, and finish work faster. It leads to fewer delays, clearer priorities, and better outcomes, not by doing more, but by focusing on less things at the same time.