Suggest an editImprove this articleRefine the answer for “How to identify a bottleneck in the flow?”. Your changes go to moderation before they’re published.Approval requiredContentWhat you’re changing🇺🇸EN🇺🇦UAPreviewTitle (EN)Short answer (EN)A bottleneck is identified by a slowdown in the flow, when tasks at some stage start piling up and moving slower than at the others. **Key point:** to find a bottleneck, look at where work "stands still": the queue grows, execution time increases, and flow stability drops.Shown above the full answer for quick recall.Answer (EN)ImageA bottleneck is identified by **a slowdown in the flow** - when tasks at some stage start piling up and moving slower than at the others. Kanban makes this visible both visually and through metrics. --- ### Main ways to identify it 1. **The Kanban board** If the number of cards in one column keeps growing, that's the first signal. For example, if "Review" is overloaded, checks aren't keeping up with development. 2. **Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD)** On the chart, the layer of a specific status starts to "bulge" - meaning tasks are getting stuck at that stage. The thicker the zone, the stronger the delay. 3. **Cycle Time by stage** Measure the average time spent at each stage. The stage where cycle time is significantly higher than the others is the bottleneck. 4. **WIP data** If the WIP limit is constantly exceeded in one column, the flow is unbalanced - there are more tasks than the team can handle. 5. **Observation and feedback** Sometimes the cause isn't in the metrics but in communication: people are waiting for data, decisions, tests. These delays are bottlenecks too. --- ### Conclusion To find a bottleneck, **look at where work "stands still"**: the queue grows, execution time increases, and flow stability drops. Visualization, metrics, and regular analysis help the team remove these points and maintain a **smooth, steady work rhythm**.For the reviewerNote to the moderator (optional)Visible only to the moderator. Helps review go faster.