WIP Limit Pressure by Project

When a team has too many things in flight at the same time, each individual item moves more slowly — context-switching, waiting for dependencies, and competing for attention all add up. This is called WIP overload, and it is one of the most common and least visible causes of backlog acceleration.

This visual shows you the average and peak number of issues concurrently in "In Progress" per project, and highlights which projects are regularly exceeding their WIP limit — signaling thrash mode where starting new work is actively slowing down existing work.

What you can conclude

• Projects with a red pressure badge (peak WIP significantly above the limit) are likely experiencing delivery slowdowns that aren't visible in velocity metrics alone.
• A project with a consistently high average WIP may need a structural limit enforced in the workflow — not just a recommendation.
• Projects comfortably below the WIP limit are focused and predictable — their delivery rhythm should be more reliable.

How this chart works

Grouped bar chart showing average and peak concurrent In Progress issues per project. A configurable WIP limit reference line (default: 8) is overlaid. Each project has a color-coded pressure badge: green (within limit), amber (approaching), red (exceeded).

The WIP limit can be adjusted using the filter — set it to match your team's agreed limit for the most accurate pressure reading.