The last three rows of a board’s section in the work item panel answer three questions: which WIP limits count this work item, why it is blocked, and how long each of its cycles took. The panel itself is explained in The work item panel.
Reading the limits #
WIP limits on this board lists every limit the board agrees, counted or not. The panel reads no current WIP number; select See the current WIP on the board to see it on Work.
- When no WIP number counts the work item, one line over the limits says why, such as “Deleted in Jira, so no WIP number counts it.”
- A limit that does not count the work item says Not counted, or why it does not count, such as “This work item is in another class of service.” or “This limit leaves out Expedite, the class of this work item.”
- A limit by assignee or team is not evaluated here. It reads “This scope counts by assignee; the panel does not evaluate it. Open the board.”, or the same for a team.
- A switched-off limit is marked “Paused”. With no policy on the board, the row reads “No WIP policy yet”.
- A line such as “2 policies of this board limit nothing here.” comes with Open Policies & agreements (Policies and WIP limits).
Blocked time #
An open block reads “Blocked since” with the time it began. Under it, a line says why it holds:
- “Flagged in Jira”: someone set the flag on the work item;
- “In a blocked status” with the status’s name: the board counts that status as blocked;
- “Blocked by” the blocking work items, each with its status and a link.
When the cause could not be read, it says “Why it is blocked could not be read.” “Blocked since before” a date means the block began before the kept history. Closed blocks read as a count and a total, such as “2 retained blocked spans, 1d 4h in total”. When a block began before the kept history, the total reads “at least”, such as “2 retained blocked spans, at least 1d 4h in total”. Which statuses, flags and links count as blocked is set under Configure → “Flow & time” (Flow, boundaries and blockers).
Cycles #
A cycle is one pass of the work item from the board’s commitment point to its delivery. Each reads “Cycle 2”, its “committed” and “delivered” dates, then “elapsed” and “blocked” times. An open cycle reads “not delivered yet”. A cycle delivered before the kept history reads “delivered before” with the date the history starts.
The newest cycle comes first, and three show at first; select Show all with the count for the rest. The panel lists the 20 newest cycles; “Older cycles are not listed.” means the work item has more.
A lozenge marks a cycle that is not measured whole:
| Lozenge | What it means |
|---|---|
| Start unknown | The cycle’s start was not observed |
| Unmapped status | The work item was in a status the board’s flow does not map |
| No status change | The work item’s status never changed |
| Open blocked span | A block in the cycle has not ended |
| Truncated history | Part of the cycle is before the kept history |
| Blocker unknown | A blocking link’s other work item could not be read for part of the cycle |
For example, a Checkout work item that was delivered, reopened and is in progress again shows “Cycle 2” first, “not delivered yet”, and under it “Cycle 1” with its delivered date.
If something looks off #
- “This board leaves this resolution out of delivered work.” under a delivered cycle: the board does not count that resolution as a delivery, so a Board owner checks the excluded resolutions under Configure → “Flow & time”.
- “No cycle is retained for this item on this board.”: the kept history holds no cycle of it.
- “No cycles yet”: the work item never changed status, so it has entered no cycle.
