# Work item age: include the unfinished work

Illustrative planning brief; no automatic product import.

Synthetic example: At a 16:00 UTC checkpoint, item A started at 09:00 and is still active; item B started at 12:00 and is still blocked. A completed item is excluded from the open snapshot.

## Decision

Keep A at seven elapsed hours and B at four; investigate B’s blocking condition without pretending either item has a completed cycle time.

## Owned work

- Freeze the checkpoint
  - Owner role: Coordinator
  - Acceptance evidence: The snapshot names the date, 16:00 UTC and the open-item rule.
- Verify active-start evidence
  - Owner role: Work owners
  - Acceptance evidence: A and B have known starts; completed item C is excluded.
- Choose a next check
  - Owner role: Delivery lead
  - Acceptance evidence: B’s required input is owned; A’s acceptance boundary is checked separately.

## Workflow

1. Select started-but-unfinished items at one checkpoint.
2. Calculate each known start-to-checkpoint duration and flag missing starts.
3. Review the blocking condition and acceptance evidence alongside age.

## Judgment

Older is not automatically more important. A same-day illustration does not support a future completion estimate.


## Worked reporting note

Open snapshot: A 7 hours, B 4 hours. Investigate the blocked input for B and retain both unfinished items in the report.


## Working artifact

- Observed / Open status and start events at 16:00 / Supports two ages, not two completion times.
- Unknown / Future finish events / Do not forecast a finish solely from current age.
- Next check / Repeat the snapshot and inspect blocking inputs / Keep the same boundary while work progresses.


## Workflow questions

### Is age a completed cycle time?

No. It stops at the observation checkpoint because the item is unfinished.

### Should blocked items be omitted?

Not under this started-but-unfinished rule. Keep their state visible rather than erasing their waiting.

### What if an open item has no start event?

Show unknown age and repair the event evidence. Do not substitute creation time silently.

## Product connection

Use this manual measurement rule as context when planning or reviewing owned work in TeamBoostAI. Confirm the fields and reports available in your account; the worksheet is not imported automatically.

Confirm account availability before adopting this manual outline.


## Worked measurement study

All example records are synthetic; manual worksheet, no automatic import.

### Inspect the invented records

Item | Start UTC | Checkpoint state | Age in hours
--- | --- | --- | ---
A | 09:00 | Active | 7
B | 12:00 | Blocked | 4

### Derivation

At 16:00, A age = 16 − 9 = 7 hours; B age = 16 − 12 = 4 hours. Neither has a finish event.

Open snapshot: A 7 hours, B 4 hours. Investigate the blocked input for B and retain both unfinished items in the report.

### Evidence boundary

Observed / Open status and start events at 16:00 / Supports two ages, not two completion times.
Unknown / Future finish events / Do not forecast a finish solely from current age.
Next check / Repeat the snapshot and inspect blocking inputs / Keep the same boundary while work progresses.

### Method references

The Kanban Guide, May 2025: https://kanbanguides.org/the-kanban-guide/2025.5/ — Clock and work-item definitions; examples and local rules are our own.