PMI CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) Examination Content OutlineAgile Frameworks/MethodologiesHard
A Kanban team is observing that new work items are frequently started before previous ones are completed, leading to many items in progress and slower overall throughput. What core Kanban principle is being violated, and what action should the team take?
- AVisualize the workflow; the team needs a more detailed Kanban board.
- BLimit Work in Progress (WIP); the team should establish and enforce WIP limits.
- CMake policies explicit; the team needs to document their definition of 'Done'.
- DManage flow; the team needs to analyze their lead time more closely.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Limit Work in Progress (WIP); the team should establish and enforce WIP limits.
The scenario describes a situation where too many items are being started without being finished, leading to increased Work in Progress (WIP) and reduced throughput. This directly violates the core Kanban principle of 'Limit Work in Progress', which aims to improve flow by focusing on finishing rather than starting new work.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. While visualization is important, the core problem here is starting too much work, not just how it's displayed.
- C. Making policies explicit is important for clarity, but the explicit policy needed here is about limiting WIP, which is a specific action, not just documentation.
- D. Managing flow is a principle, but the immediate action to address the described problem is to limit WIP, which then helps manage flow.
Limit Work in Progress (WIP)
A core Kanban principle to restrict the number of items being worked on at any given time, forcing a focus on completing existing work before starting new tasks.
- Reduces context switching and improves focus.
- Increases throughput and reduces lead time.
- Reveals bottlenecks in the workflow.
Memory trick: Too much WIP? Just stop and limit, then flow will start to transmit.