1.8. Kanban WIP Limits
One main scenario in Kanban is to reduce the amount of multi-tasking which most groups and knowledge employees are prone to do and instead encourage them to “Stop Starting! And Start Finishing!”, a mantra coined by Dr. Arne Roock (of www.Software-Kanban.de). Work in Progress (WIP) limits explained in every workflow phase on a Kanban board motivates team members complete tasks issued and take on the next one afterwards.
“Decide the outer boundaries of the Kanban system. It is often best to limit this to the immediate span of political control. Do not force visualization, transparency, and WIP limits on any department that does not volunteer to collaborate.” – David J. Anderson