LEARN. PRACTICE. GROW.Concept and mechanism
To manage flow, define when an item starts, when it finishes, and which states it crosses. Started but unfinished work counts as WIP, including blocked items. Removing a blocker from the board can improve appearance without changing reality. Work item age measures how long an open item has been started; cycle time concerns the interval from start to finish for a completed item. Throughput counts completed items per unit of time. An SLE expresses a probabilistic expectation of flow time, not a guarantee for every item or a contractual SLA. Use these measures alongside explicit policies and information about work type.
Guided application
A team has six started items: two await firewall work and one awaits a supplier. All remain in WIP. Identify the required decision, owner, impact, and next follow-up date for each dependency. When several teams work on the same service, plan interfaces and commitments together while retaining autonomy over local execution. Seek to reduce dependencies through work division and suitable shared capability; more meetings do not themselves remove a technical constraint. If an item exceeds the usual expectation, investigate why and discuss options with those involved. Do not automatically declare a contractual breach from an SLE used internally to manage flow.
Six started unfinished items are six in WIP, even with three blocked.
Common pitfalls
Hiding blockers; starting everything; confusing age and cycle time; treating SLE as a guarantee.
Related topics: Mandate, outcomes, and collaboration · Planning, capacity, and forecasting · Governance, risks, and decisions
Manage actual waiting and the decision enabling progress.
Reference: The Kanban Guide · Service Manual current public guidance; Kanban Guide May2025; DORA five-metric model; primary references reviewed 2026-09-30