Average Age of Work in Progress (WIP)

The Average Age of Work in Progress (WIP) metric helps teams understand how long current tasks have been in progress. It is a simple yet powerful indicator of potential delays, inefficiencies, or neglected work within your delivery pipeline.

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What It Measures

This metric shows the average number of days that ongoing tasks have been in progress, measured from the moment they entered a “WIP” status (e.g., In Development, In QA, Doing) until the present day.

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How It’s Calculated

For each task currently in a WIP state:

• Subtract the date the task entered WIP from the current date.
• Take the average across all such tasks.

Formula:
[(Current Date − WIP Start Date) for all active tasks] ÷ [Total number of active WIP tasks]

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Use Cases

• Identify Stale Work: A rising average may indicate tasks are being started but not finished.
• Prioritize Effectively: Use this data to target aged tasks and unblock them.
• Monitor Flow Efficiency: When combined with other delivery metrics, WIP Age helps track how smoothly work moves through the pipeline.

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If you want to explore trends in aging work or improve your team’s flow of delivery, tracking Average WIP Age can provide immediate visibility into what’s stuck—and why.

Need Help or Have Suggestions?

If you need assistance or have questions, feel free to contact us at [email protected].

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