Limiting WIP - Global Scrum Gathering Denver 2022

Limiting WIP:
Doing Less to Do More
Julie Wyman | Hunter Tammaro
Global Scrum Gathering 2022
While we wait to get started, please answer a
question at www.menti.com – code: 99 04 42 8

Julie Wyman
• 12+ years in Agile environments –
Scrum, Kanban, scaled approaches
• Commercial, federal, non-profit
Director, Business Agility

excella.com | @excellaco
Hunter
Tammaro
• 10 years working with Agile –
Scrum, Kanban, scaled approaches
• Federal and non-profit
• Local Meetup, regional and national
conference speaker
• Fan of the great outdoors, coffee,
sandwiches and Columbo
Agile Coach & Xpert

Work in Progress
(WIP)
Any partly finished product
or materials in an
incomplete step of a process
Completed work in one
process may be WIP to a
higher-order process
WIP does not provide any
value to a customer

First, some theory…

Improved quality
Better problem solving
Fewer errors
Lower stress
Increased productivity

Faster Delivery & Feedback
Value
Returned
4 Parallel Efforts
WIP = 4
Time
1 Parallel Effort
WIP = 1
Time
Value
Returned

Switching Costs
Studying costs associated with
multitasking, defined as:
• Two tasks simultaneously
• Switching from one task to another
• Perform two or more tasks in
rapid succession
https://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask

Findings
• “…mind and brain were not designed for heavy-duty multitasking”
• Switching time increases as complexity increases and familiarity decreases
• “…real-life multi-tasking…need to remember where you got to in the task to which
you are returning and to decide which task to change to, when.”
• “...just a few tenths of a second per switch, they can add up…when people switch
repeatedly back and forth...may seem efficient on the surface but may actually
take more time in the end and involve more error…shifting between tasks can cost
as much as 40 percent of someone's productive time.”
https://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask

Response Times
Likely to get an
email response
within 2 mins.
of sending
95% of texts are
read within
3 mins.
Switch tasks every
~3 mins.;
takes ~23 mins.
to get concentration
Source: Do Nothing, Celeste Headlee

Utilization, WIP and flow

Too much
WIP
Fully utilized, but spend
most of the time waiting
Slow flow through
the system
Slow to respond to change

On a software team
Total Active
Time:
Total Waiting
Time:
Analysis
(2 days)
Development
(5 days)
Testing
(1 day)
Deploy
(1 day)
Waiting for
development (3 days)
Waiting for
testing (6 days)
Waiting to
deploy (4 days)

On a software team
Total Active
Time:
9 days
Total Waiting
Time:
13 days
Analysis
(2 days)
Waiting for
development (3 days)
Development
(5 days)
Waiting for
testing (6 days)
Testing
(1 day)
Waiting to
deploy (4 days)
Deploy
(1 day)

Just enough
WIP
Team members sometimes idle,
but work almost always moving
Rapid flow through the system
Short response time reduces
effect of impediments

If you had a "free" hour of
time during the day,
what would you do?
Menti: 99 04 42 8

Societal pressure to
be "busy"…
Bluetooth headset vs. headphones?
“Again and again in research studies, when
presented with a choice between two similar
individuals, we say that
the busier person is the
more important person."
Celeste Headlee, Do Nothing

Idle team members?!
• Remove blockers
• Help other team members
• Process improvement
• Address technical debt
• Improve your craft

Slack time as a signal
WIP limits help individuals find ways
to improve the flow of the entire team
Are there issues upstream in the process that
can be resolved?
Are there issues downstream in the process?
Adjust WIP or team composition until
flow is optimized

Slack as a
requirement
WIP limits prevent burnout
and support creative work
Downtime activates the brain’s
default mode network
Chronic multitasking hurts our
ability to focus

“…during rest, the default mode network can open
connections between brain regions that are normally too
busy … to talk to each other. This is when true creativity and
insight can happen.”
Andrew Smart, Autopilot
“For all creativity measures, a positive correlation was found
between creative performance and gray matter volume of the
default mode network.”
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jocb.45

Setting WIP limits
Requirements Ready Analysis Development Validate Done
3 5 3
4
Doing Done Doing Done
Just start…
Observe
Adjust from
there
Cycle Time

Prove it!
“Multitasking is Evil”
https://agileconnection.com/article/multitasking-evil

Round 1
You are assigned three projects.
You will work on the projects one at a time.
• Project 1: Write the numbers 1 -> 15
• Project 2: Write the letters Z -> N
• Project 3: Write the Roman numerals IV -> XVII

Round 1
Project 1 Project 2 Project 3
1 - 15 Z - N IV - XVII
1 Z IV
2 Y …
… …
Once we say start:
• Work column-by-
column until you
complete all 3 projects
• Write down the time
you finish your first
and last projects
Set up: On a blank piece
of paper, create column
headers for each project

Round 2
You are assigned three projects.
You will work on the projects all at once.
• Project 1: Write the numbers 20 -> 35
• Project 2: Write the letters Q -> E
• Project 3: Write the Roman numerals V -> XVIII

Round 2
Project 1 Project 2 Project 3
20 - 35 Q - E V - XVIII
20 Q V
21 P …
… …
Once we say start:
• Work row-by-row
until you complete all
3 projects
• Write down the time
you finish your first
and last projects
Set up: On a blank piece
of paper, create column
headers for each project

Debrief:
Multitasking is Evil
Menti: 99 04 42 8

“The Name Game”
https://lithespeed.com/the-name-game-a-
multitasking-game-for-agile-teams/

The Name Game
Set-up:
• 4 ”Project Managers”
• 1 “Developer”
• 2 timers
Concept:
Project managers compete to have
the developer complete their project
(writing down their customer’s name),
one letter at a time.

Round 1
All at once:
Direct competition

Round 2
Round robin:
Developer splits their
time across projects

Round 3
One project at a time:
Developer sticks to a
WIP limit

Discussion
• In which round did we complete the first
project faster?
• Which round took the most time to
complete all of the projects?
• In which round did the developer make
more mistakes?
• In which round did the developer feel
more stressed? The project managers?
• Which round felt more like how you work
in real life?

Experiment with
another variation!
• From Henrik Kniberg
• Includes a detailed
facilitation guide:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y
76t4nh8hoq63o3/Multitasking
-Name-Game.docx?dl=0

Key Takeaways
Limiting WIP…
• Creates a better-quality
product faster
• Leads to quicker realization of
value and better feedback
• Improves the functioning of the
team by making bottlenecks visible
Remember to…
focus on flow, not utilization

References
• Switching costs studies from the American Psychological Association
• Huffington Post article with link to multitasking infographic
• “Plane Game” – additional simulation to experience the impact of WIP limits
Blog posts:
• How Scrum and Kanban approach
WIP differently
• Constraints in Scrum and Kanban
• How to set initial WIP limits
• Importance of slack time for creativity
Books:
• Lean from the Trenches – Henrik
Kniberg
• Do Nothing – Celeste Headlee
• Autopilot – Andrew Smart

Connect with us!
Julie Wyman
julie.wyman@appian.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-wyman/
https://www.slideshare.net/JulieWyman3
Hunter Tammaro
hunter.tammaro@excella.com
@htammaro
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wmhunter/
Questions?

Limiting WIP - Global Scrum Gathering Denver 2022

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