Workflow state
Also known as Work state, Kanban state
Definition
A workflow state is a meaningful condition in a work system, such as ready, implementing, reviewing, blocked, or done. States should have explicit entry and exit policies so movement can be observed consistently.
A state is a policy, not a label
“In review” is useful only if people agree what entering and leaving it mean. A workflow state should describe a condition that changes the next available action. Too many incidental states create reporting noise; too few hide important queues.
A concrete example
An illustrative team defines “ready for review” as code available, checks passing, and an owner identified. It defines “reviewing” as work actively being assessed or waiting for that assessment. Those policies let the team distinguish review effort from review queue time.
Keep states observable
Review items that remain in a state after the real work moved, and make blocked conditions visible without inventing a separate state for every reason. Use age, WIP, and transition timing to see whether the state helps decisions.
Limitations
State models are abstractions. A work item can need several kinds of attention at once, and teams may use different policies for different classes. Preserve enough context to explain exceptions.
How this relates to Weave
Weave can help teams relate engineering events to selected workflow states when those states are recorded in the connected work system. It cannot make an ambiguous state meaningful, so teams should define state policies before analyzing time spent in them.
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