Blocked Items Handling in kanban

[sana.anuj]

How to handle blocked items in Kanban if we have WIP limit on workflow stage.

Ex: For Dev stage we have WIP limit 2 and both items presents in this stage are blocked.

->Waiting for blocked item resolution-> Increase Waste
-> Moving blocked item to previous work flow stage will also create waste because of context switching.

[seema.sonkiya]

If something is blocked, it is visible to the team, that's why we use Kanban Board. Blocked items necessitate that team members collaborate for what is needed.

It is visible to the team that if something is blocking, it is contributing to waste and they think what can be done in this situation to remove the block. kanban is great at visualizing work, but if used effectively, it can help teams effectively manage the flow of work on a daily basis.

In fact, WIP promotes collaboration where team focus on the flow of work and they focus more on finishing instead of picking new item before completion.


Moving blocked item to previous workflow stage is a team decision, and they decide what is right for them based on priority.