PR-06
WIP Advisory — Maximum Concurrent In-Progress Items
Planning Recommendations
Default severity: medium
PrioritizationEstimationOutputBusiness Value
What it detects
Advises the Scrum Master on the maximum number of in-progress items the team should have at any time based on Little\'s Law: WIP = throughput × cycle_time. Exceeding this causes queue build-up and cycle time increases. Provides a configurable safety multiplier. throughput_per_day = baseline(issue_count).plan_optimal / config.sprint.duration_days avg_cycle_time_days = avg_cycle_time(team, last N sprints) little_wip = throughput_per_day * avg_cycle_time_days // Little\'s Law recommended_wip = CEIL(little_wip * config.pr.wip_safety_factor) // default: 1.2 FORMAT: \'WIP advisory: maximum {recommended_wip} items In Progress simultaneously. Currently: {current_wip} items. At current WIP, expected cycle time: {projected_ct} days.\'
Detection formula
IF current_wip > recommended_wip THEN FLAG (escalate to FL-01)Examples in practice
- A team shows advises the scrum master on the maximum number of in-progress items the team should have at any time based on little\'s law: wip = throughput × cycle_time during analysis.
- Example signal: Advises the Scrum Master on the maximum number of in-progress items the team should have at any time based on Little\'s Law: WIP = throughput × cycle_time.
Suggested response
Use the advisory outputs to tune refinement, WIP, and planning cadence with data.
Coaching playbook
Symptom
Advises the Scrum Master on the maximum number of in-progress items the team should have at any time based on Little\'s Law: WIP = throughput × cycle_time. Exceeding this causes queue build-up and cycle time increases. Provides a configurable safety multiplier. throughput_per_day = baseline(issue_count).plan_optimal / config.sprint.duration_days avg_cycle_time_days = avg_cycle_time(team, last N sprints) little_wip = throughput_per_day * avg_cycle_time_days // Little\'s Law recommended_wip = CEIL(little_wip * config.pr.wip_safety_factor) // default: 1.2 FORMAT: \'WIP advisory: maximum {recommended_wip} items In Progress simultaneously. Currently: {current_wip} items. At current WIP, expected cycle time: {projected_ct} days.\'
Why it matters
When "WIP Advisory — Maximum Concurrent In-Progress Items" keeps appearing, the team is signalling a repeatable process gap. Left unexamined, the pattern hides where work really stalls and makes improvement metrics harder to trust.
What you can achieve
Use the advisory outputs to tune refinement, WIP, and planning cadence with data.
Facilitation questions
- What system change would stop "WIP Advisory — Maximum Concurrent In-Progress Items" from firing again?
- What do the cited issues have in common — same root cause or same workaround?
- Who owns the two-week experiment and how will we verify on the next import?
Run this rule against your own tracker data with Flow Analyzer.