When starting is easier than finishing
Work in progress, or WIP, is work that has started but is not yet finished.
An editorial team is writing six articles at once. Two await review, one is blocked by a source and the others are gradually being written. Everyone is busy, but nothing is ready to publish. Adding a seventh draft increases the amount started, not necessarily the amount published.
A WIP limit caps the number of these items in a chosen part of the workflow. It helps the team notice queues and focus on finishing. The Kanban Guide calls for an explicit definition of the start, finish and way of controlling unfinished work; teams choose the actual numbers for their own process.
The example below uses a writer, an editor and a production editor. The numbers illustrate a decision process rather than promising the same effect for another team.
- Idea queue
Not started: excluded from WIP.
- Draft
Work has started: included.
- Review
The article is waiting for or undergoing editing: included.
- Ready to publish
The agreed finish point for this workflow.
What exactly counts as unfinished work?
First, define the unit: one article, one request or one order. Do not combine a large campaign and a small correction in a single count if that makes the number meaningless. Work items need not all be the same size, but the differences must be visible when discussing flow.
In our example, an article enters WIP when the writer starts preparing the agreed piece. It leaves when the text is checked and ready to publish. If the team wants to measure the journey through actual publication, move the finish point and apply the same rule to every article.
Agree separately on urgent corrections. They can be counted as independent items or as part of the current article, but do not keep hiding real workload under “a quick small fix”. Otherwise, the limit is respected only in the picture.
The first limit is a hypothesis, not a quota
For an experiment, the editorial team chooses no more than two articles in preparation and one in review. This is an illustrative starting condition, not a “one task per person” formula. It addresses the current problem: the editor cannot keep up with accumulated articles while writers switch between drafts.
| State | Illustrative limit | What is currently inside |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation | 2 articles | An interview and a practical walkthrough |
| Review | 1 article | A beginner's guide |
| Waiting to start | Not occupying started-work capacity | Three agreed ideas |
If two articles are already in preparation, a new idea stays in the queue. Available attention can go towards collecting missing facts, addressing feedback or helping with review within the person's competence. A limit does not require pretending to be busy or authorise an unqualified person to accept someone else's work.
A limit that is too low can create unnecessary waiting; one that is too high may change nothing. Set a review date in advance and record the problem you want to reduce: ageing unfinished articles, a review queue or frequent switching.
What to do when a column is full
On Wednesday, the writer finishes an interview, but the beginner's guide is already in review. Simply moving the card into the full column breaks the chosen rule. The writer could help resolve comments on the guide, prepare materials for the next review or discuss the actual obstacle with the editor.
- Hide the bottleneck
Start another article and give the waiting work a separate status.
- Address the bottleneck
Clarify what the review needs and help finish the current article.
If the interview genuinely needs to go first because of an event date, the team makes an explicit exception: which work is delayed, who decides and when the limit will be restored. An exception can be reasonable. The danger is treating every loud request as a reason to quietly increase the amount of started work.
A limit does not remove urgency. It makes the cost of urgent intervention visible. If exceptions happen every day, the problem may lie in item size, entry rules or team commitments, rather than in the number at the top of the column being too small.
How to handle a blocker
The interview stops because the expert has not confirmed a quotation. The card remains in WIP, with a reason for waiting and a next step: the editor clarifies when an answer will arrive. This is more useful than a red label with no assigned action.
If waiting continues, discuss alternatives: remove the unconfirmed quotation, use another source or genuinely stop work on the article. The last choice is different from disguising unfinished work. If work is stopped, record that the result was not published and do not count it as a successful completion.
- Name the obstacle precisely: which fact, access or decision is missing?
- Define the next step and the person who can take it.
- Set a point for another check so waiting does not become indefinite.
- Keep blocked work in the relevant unfinished-work count.
The team cannot remove every blocker through effort alone. The purpose of this review is to see the real constraint, not find someone to blame or make everyone work faster.
How to tell whether a limit helps
Before the change, record the starting picture: how many items are in progress, how many finished during the chosen period and how old the oldest cards are. Afterwards, use the same definitions and a comparable period. One good day does not prove a sustained speed improvement.
Cycle time runs between the agreed start and finish points. Work item age shows how long a current card has been in the workflow. Completion counts show the output. These measures answer different questions; reducing WIP alone does not prove better quality or higher throughput.
Record changes in the mix of work and people's absences. If one week contains short notes and another complex interviews, simply comparing publication counts is misleading. Discuss the observations and change one limit at a time so you can understand the reason for the result.
Where to keep the working result
In Sinqly, you can create a task called “Review the editorial task queue” and add the limit rule, current blockers and review date to its description. In this example, the team enforces the numeric limit through its agreement. Signing up is free.
Where to start without reorganising everything
Choose one problematic area, such as article review. Name the work unit and stage boundaries, count the current queue and agree on a small experiment. Do not copy another team's number; preserve the reason for your own choice.
In the first review, ask whether bottlenecks became clearer and specific actions to finish work appeared. If people merely bypass the limit with new statuses, first fix the counting rule. Raising the limit just to make the board look calmer is usually unhelpful.
How to organise a team Kanban board: work states and the agreements around them.
More questions to clarify
Do blocked tasks count as WIP?
Yes, if they sit between the chosen start and finish points. A separate waiting label does not make the work complete.
What limit should a team of three use?
There is no universal number. Consider the work, stages and observed queue, choose a testable hypothesis and schedule a review.
Can we exceed a limit for urgent work?
An exception can be an explicit decision with stated consequences and a time to return to the limit. Repeated hidden exceptions remove the limit's purpose.
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Sources and notes
- The Kanban Guide, May 2025
- The suggested process reflects editorial practice; it does not promise identical results for everyone.
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