Standard : WIP Over SLA

Description

WIP Over SLA tracks the proportion of work items that remain in progress beyond a defined acceptable time threshold. It highlights where tasks are getting stuck, creating drag on the system, increasing context switching, and signalling flow breakdown.

The goal is to detect and reduce excessive work-in-progress ageing, helping teams deliver more predictably and with less waste.

How to Use

What to Measure

  • Number of WIP items currently open that have exceeded their SLA threshold (e.g. 5 days in ‘In Progress’).
  • Total number of active WIP items.

Formula

WIP Over SLA (%) = (WIP Items Over SLA / Total WIP Items) × 100

Segment by:

  • Work type (feature, defect, enabler)
  • Value stream stage (e.g. Dev, Test, Review)
  • Team, product, or service

Instrumentation Tips

  • Use delivery tooling (e.g. Jira, Azure Boards) with age tracking fields or custom SLA rules.
  • Flag items automatically after SLA breach.
  • Visualise aged WIP prominently in stand-ups and retros.

Why It Matters

  • Improves focus: Long-running WIP indicates task switching, unclear ownership, or scope creep.
  • Reduces hidden waste: Aged items often reflect unresolved blockers or unnecessary batching.
  • Supports predictability: Managing WIP age leads to more stable throughput and flow efficiency.
  • Reveals delivery friction: Stale WIP can highlight dependency issues or organisational constraints.

Best Practices

  • Define clear SLAs per stage (e.g. 2 days in code review, 3 days in testing).
  • Actively monitor WIP age and raise items in daily stand-ups.
  • Apply WIP limits to prevent overloading of teams or stages.
  • Review stale items in retrospectives and unblock or reframe.
  • Break down large work items to reduce risk of ageing.

Common Pitfalls

  • Arbitrary SLAs that don’t reflect reality of team or domain.
  • Ignoring system-wide WIP in favour of individual tracking.
  • Not distinguishing between active work and waiting or paused items.
  • Failing to act on breached SLAs (metric becomes noise).

Signals of Success

  • Aged WIP is quickly identified, acted on, and resolved.
  • Team WIP stays within agreed thresholds over time.
  • Flow improves as fewer items linger without progress.
  • Teams adopt smaller batch sizes and release more frequently.
  • [[Lead Time for Change]]
  • [[Flow Efficiency]]
  • [[Build and Deploy Wait Time]]
  • [[Blocked Time per Work Item]]
  • [[Cycle Time Predictability]]