How agile done right cut WIP by 20% and doubled team delivery

Throughout my career as a Project Manager, I’ve seen many companies, even those whose core business is technology, struggle to adopt Agile project management models like Scrum and Kanban. 

While many claim to use these methodologies, most actually operate under a hybrid approach, applying selected Agile practices while maintaining a traditional mindset.

Even more than 20 years after the Agile Manifesto, many organizations still have difficulty executing core Agile practices. Issues like inconsistent ceremonies, poor task prioritization, and lack of delivery planning often delay product launches and lead to team dissatisfaction.

Recently, I served as a Scrum Master for a client project where, over six months, we improved the team’s Agile processes and project management maturity. 

Working in an extended team model with the client’s development team and Product Owner, I helped optimize ceremonies and workflows while the client team remained focused on strategic business efforts.

By the end of this period, the squad was operating more efficiently, with better backlog management, faster task execution, and shorter release times. This article shares the Agile improvements we implemented and the benefits they brought to the team.

Optimizing the daily meeting

Agile frameworks recommend that the Daily Meeting (or stand-up) lasts no more than 15 minutes. When I joined the project, these meetings often exceeded 30 minutes because they had become status report sessions, reviewing each task and its delivery timeline.

To fix this, we refocused the Daily on its core purpose: having each developer share (a) what they worked on, (b) what they planned to work on next, and (c) whether they had any blockers.

To support the change, we created a shared page where team members could write their answers before the meeting. This helped them prepare concise updates. Eventually, this support wasn’t needed anymore, the team internalized the practice.

We also noticed that completed tasks weren’t advancing through the Kanban board because developers weren’t updating the workflow status. This created bottlenecks despite tasks being technically done.

To address this, we encouraged the team to update the task status daily, document the adopted solution, identify the next step, and assign the task to the next person in the execution flow. Eventually, the team became autonomous in keeping the board up to date.

Another challenge was that unrelated discussions often took place during the Daily, such as deep dives into technical solutions. To resolve this, we created a separate 15-minute daily meeting for technical discussions and a weekly refinement session for reviewing complex tasks. This kept the Daily focused and efficient.

By the end of the project, the Daily Meeting had gone from 40 to 15 minutes thanks to these adjustments.

Product backlog prioritization

One of the most common challenges in Agile teams is backlog prioritization. When everything is a priority, nothing truly is. Trying to deliver too many features at once reduces focus and often results in rework.

In our project, the Product Managers had a long list of features they wanted released as soon as possible. We worked with the PO to rank tasks based on business value, impact, and urgency, using prioritization techniques such as customer value, cost of delay, and effort-to-impact ratios.

We ensured this prioritization was clearly reflected in the Kanban board so developers would know what to tackle next without needing to ask. This increased autonomy and avoided idle time between tasks.

The prioritized backlog also became a prerequisite for Sprint Planning. Developers would estimate each task, and based on team velocity, we could forecast what was achievable in the next Sprint.

By avoiding work on lower-priority items before higher-priority ones were completed, we reduced WIP (Work in Progress) and increased delivery focus. Over six months, we reduced WIP by 20% and doubled the number of completed tasks per Sprint.

Improving task detail

Developers need well-defined tasks to execute efficiently. Yet in this project, many tasks only had a title or vague descriptions, requiring developers to chase down details, which delayed development.

Some tasks were too large to complete in a Sprint. We began splitting them into smaller, shippable sub-tasks. For uncertain tasks, we created “spikes” for technical investigation before implementation.

These changes improved productivity and team satisfaction. Tasks entered Sprints only when they were ready, saving time and reducing confusion during development.

Retrospective meetings

Retrospectives are essential for continuous improvement. Yet this team initially didn’t conduct them. We added this ceremony to the calendar and used it to identify what was working and what wasn’t.

We prioritized small, high-impact improvements and began tracking basic Agile metrics:

• Velocity (points delivered per Sprint)
• Throughput (tasks completed)
• Lead time (average delivery duration)
• WIP (tasks in progress)

Metrics were reviewed during Retrospectives to foster transparency.

Most importantly, we encouraged open communication so everyone felt safe to share what needed improvement. Psychological safety is critical for continuous improvement.

Conclusion

This project allowed e-Core to support the client in improving Agile maturity and project delivery. With a few simple steps and a continuous improvement mindset, we optimized ceremonies, backlog management, task planning, and team dynamics.

After six months, the team became more efficient and confident, delivering features faster and with greater satisfaction. Agile success isn’t just about adopting a methodology, it’s about building processes that work for your people.