WIP Limits with multiple sprints/teams

[Frank_Iversen]

Background:

One Jira project with two teams.

Each team runs in team specific sprint board.

Each team runs with own sprints.

The teams want to use team specific WIP limits which have been configured in Columns:

- Team 1 with WIP Limit <= 9

- Team 2 with WIP Limit <= 7

Problem:

WIP is calculated on the project level e.g. Team 1 has 8 issues in progress and Team 2 has 6 issues in progress. In both team boards the 'In progress' column is now coloured red indicating that WIP is exceeding. At the top of the column, you can see that Team 1 has 8 of 14 in progress and Team 2 has 6 of 14 in progress.

WIP should really be calculated per board instead.

Any possible workarounds?

[Yuri Kudin]

Hi @Frank Iversen 

We have created an add on that can solve your problem.

You are able o create a board and define swimlanes per team. WIP limit could be defined per column and swimlane intersection. As result, you will have WIP per team. 

Another option is to define WIP per swimlane so the WIP will be applied across all columns. I guess such a case might be beneficial in some cases.

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1223877/advanced-kanban-agile-boards?hosting=cloud&tab=overview&utm_campaign=content-strategy&utm_source=community-atlassian&utm_medium=questions&utm_content=aab-wip

[Carlos Garcia Navarro]

Hi @Frank Iversen ,

Maybe I need more details. WIP limits are set for the board so if you only have issues for Team 1 in the board, the min and max values for the team should be respected (and same thing for board for Team 2). Can you attach a picture? Thanks

[Frank Iversen]

Hi Carlos, 

(Slightly delay as my Atlassion account has had troubles after merging with my Trello account.)

In the snapshot, you can see team1 who has 12 stories/bugs/tasks In Progress. Team1 has a WIP limit on 15. 

However, as you can see the column is already "red" indicating exceeding WIP limits.

Currently, I have three active sprints where the total WIP is 32.

So, I assume that WIP for a specific board looks across all active sprints.

As already said, "WIP should really be calculated per board instead.".

Hope you can resolve :-)

Cheers, 

Frank

[Frank Iversen]

[Paul Wardle]

I have the same issue. I have one project, one board and two sprints on that board. I have two separate teams, each team works on one of these sprints.

I would expect that the WIP limits are in effect for each sprint, as the sprints are separate, and the teams work independently.

At the moment the WIP limits are applied across both sprints, which makes them pretty useless.

As a example, my "In Progress" column has a WIP Limit of 5. If Team A has 3 issues in progress and Team B also has 3 tickets in progress, then the WIP limit is shown as being violated, even though each team hasn't breached their own limit.

If they had a shared WIP limit, they be on the same sprint, right?

[Nigel Mahoney]

Hi @Paul Wardle ,

Did you manage to resolve this. I'm facing the same issue but can't see a resolution without spending more money on an ad-in.

[Agnieszka Piórko-Synowiec]

Hi, I am also looking for any update on this topic! Thanks!