Capacity-constrained flow
Also known as Capacity-limited flow, Constrained delivery flow
Definition
Capacity-constrained flow occurs when a stage, skill, environment, or policy has less effective capacity than the demand arriving at it. The result is usually a growing queue, longer waiting, or reduced throughput.
Capacity limits flow
When demand exceeds effective capacity at one point in a workflow, the system has to queue, reject, defer, or interrupt work. The constraint may be a reviewer, a test environment, a release authority, a specialized skill, or a policy requiring a particular sequence.
A concrete example
An illustrative platform team can deploy six migrations per week but receives ten requests. Four requests wait, even though implementation teams have spare time. The visible symptom is a deployment queue; the system issue is a capacity constraint at the migration stage.
Work with the constraint
Measure arrival and departure at the constrained stage, then inspect age and blocked reasons. Reduce avoidable demand, simplify the handoff, add safe capability, or change sequencing. Starting more upstream work can worsen the queue if it cannot pass the constraint.
Limitations
Capacity is effective capacity, not headcount. A nominally available person may lack context or authorization. Short-term queue growth can also reflect a temporary event, so confirm persistence before treating the constraint as structural.
How this relates to Weave
Weave can help teams study delivery timing and review queues that suggest a capacity constraint. Its signals are evidence for investigation, not a complete model of staffing, system limits, or non-code work.
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