The Portfolio WIP Pilot
Throughput Increase
How a 3-Month Pilot Unlocked 2X Throughput and 46-65% Faster Delivery
The Situation
We 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
We 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. We 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.