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Theory of Constraints

The Constraints module focuses attention on the part of the system that limits throughput. It uses live work, queues, blocked work, cycle data, business exposure, and forecast signals to identify the current constraint.

Last updated July 8, 2026

Constraints dashboard with identified constraint, evidence, impact score, queue depth, business exposure, and action buttons.
Constraints dashboard with identified constraint, evidence, impact score, queue depth, business exposure, and action buttons.

How to run constraint analysis

  1. Open Constraints.
  2. Select Run Constraint Analysis.
  3. Read The Constraint card first. It names the current bottleneck and shows impact score, queue depth, average wait, and blocked value.
  4. Open the evidence section to see why the candidate was selected.
  5. Review business exposure to see projects, goals, deals, and tasks affected by the constraint.
  6. Create an action: Exploit, Subordinate, or Elevate.

What the identified constraint means

SignalMeaning
Impact scoreA composite score representing bottleneck severity. It considers queue depth, blocked work, workload, downstream delay, and business exposure.
Queue depthHow many tasks are waiting at the constrained person, unit, or work center.
Average waitHow long work is waiting before flowing through the constrained area.
Blocked valueEstimated pipeline or business value exposed by the constraint.
ConfidenceHow strong the evidence is. High confidence means multiple signals agree. Lower confidence means the analysis needs more data or the signals are split.

How to create TOC actions

  1. On the constraint dashboard, choose Exploit, Subordinate, or Elevate.
  2. Give the action a title and description.
  3. Save the action. It appears on the Actions page linked to the current constraint.
  4. Move the action through Planned, In Progress, Completed, or Cancelled.
  5. After action changes are implemented, run constraint analysis again to see whether the bottleneck moved.
TOC Actions page tracks exploit, subordinate, and elevate actions by status and constraint.
TOC Actions page tracks exploit, subordinate, and elevate actions by status and constraint.

Action types

Exploit

Get more throughput from the constraint without major investment. Remove distractions, protect focus time, clarify priorities, and make sure the bottleneck always works on the highest-value work.

Subordinate

Align the rest of the system to the constraint. Stop flooding it with low-value work, adjust upstream release, and sequence work so the bottleneck is protected.

Elevate

Add capacity or materially change the constraint. Hire, automate, outsource, train, redesign process, or remove structural limits.

Why the bottleneck may differ from workload analytics

The Constraints dashboard looks for the system constraint, not merely the person with the most open work. Workload analytics may show a different person when that person has more active tasks but less downstream impact, lower business exposure, or less evidence of blocking the system. Use the evidence and comparison notes to explain the difference.