What is a WIP limit on a Kanban board?
Quick answer
A WIP (work in progress) limit is the maximum number of items allowed in a column of a Kanban board at the same time, such as four cards in In Progress. When the column is full, the team finishes something before it starts anything new.
Last updated
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Updated · By Robert Breen
Why it matters for a small business
When everyone has eight requests open, each one waits while people switch between them, and every request takes a week. Capping work in progress feels slower but makes each item finish faster, because attention goes to finishing instead of starting. It also shows where work gets stuck: a full column with nothing moving is the bottleneck.
A common starting point is one item in progress per person. Track cycle time, the days from starting an item to Done, before and after; if it falls, the limit is working.
In a real lesson: Jira: Kanban Board with WIP Limits and Cycle Time
In the free Jira Kanban lesson, a four-person support team gets about 50 requests a week. You create a team-managed Kanban space, add a Waiting on customer column, then open In Progress, the column menu, Set column limit, and enter 4 in Maximum.
When a fifth card moves in, the count reads 5 and the limit icon on the column header turns red. Jira warns but does not block, so the limit is a team agreement the board makes visible. Six requests that took 2, 3, 3, 4, 5 and 7 days average a 4-day cycle time.
Try this lesson free or read the step-by-step guide.
Common confusions
WIP limit vs sprint commitment
A sprint caps work per time box. A WIP limit caps work per column at any moment, with no time box.
WIP limit vs workload cap
A WIP limit counts items in a column for the whole team, not hours per person.
Tips
- Start at one item per person in progress and adjust after two weeks.
- Give waiting on someone else its own column, so waiting time does not hide inside In Progress.
Related terms
More Business terms
Where you use it: free lessons
- Jira: Kanban Board with WIP Limits and Cycle Time (Jira, 12 min)
Frequently asked questions
- How do I set a WIP limit in Jira?
- On a team-managed board, open the column's More actions (•••) menu, choose Set column limit, enter a Maximum and click Save.
- What happens when a Jira column goes over its limit?
- Jira shows the count and turns the limit icon on the column header red. It does not stop you moving the card.
- What is a good WIP limit?
- A common start is one item per person in that column, then lower or raise it based on cycle time and where work piles up.
- Does a WIP limit only work in Jira?
- No. The idea works on any Kanban board, including Trello, Asana or a whiteboard with sticky notes. Jira simply shows the count on the column header and turns it red when the column is over its limit.