---
sourceDocument: Australia Strategic Portfolio Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-business-management

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia Strategic Portfolio Management

ft:clusterId :

    - itbm

bundleId :

    - itbm

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# WIP limits in EAP

# WIP limits in EAP {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated November 2, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read  
Set a work in progress (WIP) limit on a state or substate so that a team sees when a Planning board lane holds more work than planned.

A team that starts more work than it can finish ends up with many items that are partly done. Those items wait in lanes, and the team can't easily tell where its work is stuck.

A WIP limit sets the maximum number of stories for one lane of a team. A lane is a story state or one of the substates of the team. When a lane reaches or passes its limit, the lane header on the Planning board shows it, so the
team can act before more work piles up.

## WIP limits on the Planning board {#wip-limits-in-eap__wip-limits-in-eap-display}

The header of each lane shows the number of stories in the lane. When the lane has a limit, the header also shows the limit, for example `1/1`.

* A lane without a limit shows only the number of stories.
* A lane that reaches its limit has an amber header.
* A lane that has more stories than its limit has a red header and an exclamation icon. Point to the icon to see a message such as WIP limit exceeded: 2 items, limit 1.

Figure 1. WIP limit indicators on Planning board lanes   

## Configuring WIP limits {#wip-limits-in-eap__wip-limits-in-eap-ownership}

A scrum master sets WIP limits for a team on the Kanban WIP limits tab of the Team
Settings page. Each lane of a team can have one limit. Each team sets its own limits, so a change doesn't affect other teams. For more information, see [Set WIP limits for Kanban lanes in EAP](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/RvoGcRW4O8xgaH_e4sUFnw "Limit the amount of work in progress for each state or substate of an Agile Team in Enterprise Agile Planning so that the team keeps its workload under control.").

To set limits on steps within a state, create substates first. For more information, see [Substates in EAP](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/B5pyrlJg4WwX4PVFyjyQQg "Divide a story state into substates in Enterprise Agile Planning so that a team can track work in more detail.").