The Portfolio WIP Pilot
Throughput Increase
How a 3-Month Pilot Unlocked 2X Throughput and 46-65% Faster Delivery
The Situation
I ran this pilot with two different kinds of teams: an Enterprise Platform Team and a Customer-Facing Application Team. Both were classic examples of a common problem: trying to do too many things at once. With no constraints on the number of active projects, high-priority work would get started, then stall, as the teams were pulled onto other "urgent" tasks. This constant context switching was destroying their predictability and morale.
The Approach
I proposed and led a formal, 3-month Portfolio WIP Limits Pilot. The goal was simple: prove that by forcing these different teams to focus on fewer parallel initiatives, we could dramatically accelerate the delivery of what mattered most. I measured the 85th percentile cycle time of both teams to get a clear "before" picture.
The Team-Level Results
The results from the pilot exceeded expectations.
Platform Team
Cut their 85th percentile cycle time from 172 days to 80 days (53% improvement).
Application Team
Cut their 85th percentile cycle time from 121 days to 43 days (65% improvement).
The Leadership Verdict
One P&L-owning Product Director put it best:
"It's like getting a second team for free. Our delivery speed has transformed completely."
Ready to Unlock Your Team's Hidden Capacity?
Contact Flow Capital Group to discuss implementing a Portfolio WIP Limits Pilot for your teams.