Flow control
Also known as Pulling from a full queue
Definition
Flow control includes WIP limits, pull criteria, service classes, queue visibility, and feedback about age and completion. Its purpose is to prevent uncontrolled accumulation while preserving a safe path for work.
Flow control in practice
Flow control includes WIP limits, pull criteria, service classes, queue visibility, and feedback about age and completion. Its purpose is to prevent uncontrolled accumulation while preserving a safe path for work.
A concrete example
An illustrative review state reaches its WIP limit. The next action is to complete or unblock existing reviews, not to open another request. The policy controls entry and makes the constraint visible.
How to use the signal
Compare this measure with cycle time, throughput, work in progress, and queue time. Define the start and finish events, inspect distributions instead of relying on one average, and record the policy behind any comparison. A useful measure should lead to a specific question about flow rather than a score for an individual.
Limitations
Flow control cannot create capacity or settle product priority. Overly rigid controls can starve urgent work, so exception rules and quality safeguards must be explicit.
How this relates to Weave
Weave's engineering intelligence can help teams inspect delivery activity and timing around flow control. Use those signals to find patterns and test workflow improvements, while keeping the team's work system as the source of truth for product, operational, and dependency context.
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