diff --git a/.github/workflows/archery.yml b/.github/workflows/archery.yml
index 0c3158f3964ec..1542eb60d9e55 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/archery.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/archery.yml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ on:
 jobs:
 
   archery:
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     name: Archery Unittests
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cpp.yml b/.github/workflows/cpp.yml
index d344646e49274..2e673b9db9ef9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cpp.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cpp.yml
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ jobs:
   conda:
     name: AMD64 Conda C++
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Arrow
         uses: actions/checkout@v2
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@ jobs:
   ubuntu-sanitizer:
     name: AMD64 Ubuntu ${{ matrix.ubuntu }} C++ ASAN UBSAN
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -106,6 +108,7 @@ jobs:
   macos:
     name: AMD64 MacOS 10.15 C++
     runs-on: macos-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
     env:
@@ -160,6 +163,7 @@ jobs:
   windows:
     name: AMD64 ${{ matrix.name }} C++
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -224,6 +228,7 @@ jobs:
   windows-mingw:
     name: AMD64 Windows MinGW ${{ matrix.mingw-n-bits }} C++
     runs-on: windows-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cpp_cron.yml b/.github/workflows/cpp_cron.yml
index c20107b6e407f..318dd794b9300 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cpp_cron.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cpp_cron.yml
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ jobs:
   debian:
     name: AMD64 Debian ${{ matrix.debian }} C++
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ jobs:
   fedora:
     name: AMD64 Fedora ${{ matrix.fedora }} C++
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -113,6 +115,7 @@ jobs:
   ubuntu:
     name: AMD64 Ubuntu ${{ matrix.ubuntu }} C++
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -144,7 +147,7 @@ jobs:
   ubuntu-cmake32:
     name: AMD64 Ubuntu 18.04 C++ CMake 3.2
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    if: github.event_name == 'push'
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -187,6 +190,7 @@ jobs:
   oss-fuzz:
     name: OSS-Fuzz build check
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/csharp.yml b/.github/workflows/csharp.yml
index 3e2e5988d145d..dfa32778997b5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/csharp.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/csharp.yml
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ jobs:
   ubuntu:
     name: AMD64 Ubuntu 18.04 C# ${{ matrix.dotnet }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ jobs:
   windows:
     name: AMD64 Windows 2019 18.04 C# ${{ matrix.dotnet }}
     runs-on: windows-latest
+    if: !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP')
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -86,7 +88,7 @@ jobs:
   macos:
     name: AMD64 MacOS 10.15 C# ${{ matrix.dotnet }}
     runs-on: macos-latest
-    if: github.event_name == 'push'
+    if: !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP')
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/dev.yml b/.github/workflows/dev.yml
index adee030c19447..5919284363b51 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dev.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dev.yml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ jobs:
   lint:
     name: Lint C++, Python, R, Rust, Docker, RAT
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Arrow
         uses: actions/checkout@v2
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ jobs:
   release:
     name: Source Release and Merge Script
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     env:
       GIT_AUTHOR_NAME: Github Actions
       GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL: github@actions
diff --git a/.github/workflows/go.yml b/.github/workflows/go.yml
index 4ad316ad92e92..10ea200cb48cb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/go.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/go.yml
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ jobs:
   debian:
     name: AMD64 Debian 10 Go ${{ matrix.go }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ jobs:
   windows:
     name: AMD64 Windows 2019 Go ${{ matrix.go }}
     runs-on: windows-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -92,7 +94,7 @@ jobs:
   macos:
     name: AMD64 MacOS 10.15 Go ${{ matrix.go }}
     runs-on: macos-latest
-    if: github.event_name == 'push'
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration.yml b/.github/workflows/integration.yml
index 7ad5409652154..c0fc10ca8a3f8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/integration.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/integration.yml
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ jobs:
   conda-integration:
     name: AMD64 Conda Integration Test
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     env:
       MAVEN: 3.5
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/java.yml b/.github/workflows/java.yml
index e2e8e85c309e8..b1d43bfa46b7a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/java.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/java.yml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ jobs:
   debian:
     name: AMD64 Debian 9 Java JDK ${{ matrix.jdk }} Maven ${{ matrix.maven }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/java_jni.yml b/.github/workflows/java_jni.yml
index 7fd66b3f1b91b..d855a69b667ab 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/java_jni.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/java_jni.yml
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ jobs:
   debian:
     name: AMD64 Debian 9 Java JNI and Plasma
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/js.yml b/.github/workflows/js.yml
index 5a05c0421d9bc..d0632bdb3d0c2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/js.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/js.yml
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ jobs:
   debian:
     name: AMD64 Debian 10 NodeJS ${{ matrix.node }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/python.yml b/.github/workflows/python.yml
index 37a4f64996ff2..82418e92dce36 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/python.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/python.yml
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ jobs:
   ubuntu:
     name: AMD64 Ubuntu 16.04 Python 3.5
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     env:
       UBUNTU: 16.04
     steps:
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@ jobs:
   conda-nopandas:
     name: AMD64 Conda Python ${{ matrix.python }} Without Pandas
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -110,6 +112,7 @@ jobs:
   conda-pandas:
     name: AMD64 Conda Python ${{ matrix.python }} Pandas ${{ matrix.pandas }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -154,6 +157,7 @@ jobs:
   macos:
     name: AMD64 MacOS 10.15 Python 3.7
     runs-on: macos-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     env:
       ARROW_HOME: /usr/local
       ARROW_DATASET: ON
diff --git a/.github/workflows/python_cron.yml b/.github/workflows/python_cron.yml
index 10c17e5c8ae46..26c5cd7dbd5e9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/python_cron.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/python_cron.yml
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ jobs:
   debian:
     name: AMD64 Debian ${{ matrix.debian }} Python 3
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ jobs:
   ubuntu:
     name: AMD64 Ubuntu ${{ matrix.ubuntu }} Python 3
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -111,6 +113,7 @@ jobs:
   fedora:
     name: AMD64 Fedora ${{ matrix.fedora }} Python 3
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -150,6 +153,7 @@ jobs:
   downstream:
     name: AMD64 Conda Python 3.7 ${{ matrix.title }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/r.yml b/.github/workflows/r.yml
index 645da835afe0c..cba32bca345aa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/r.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/r.yml
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ jobs:
   ubuntu:
     name: AMD64 Ubuntu ${{ matrix.ubuntu }} R ${{ matrix.r }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -87,6 +88,7 @@ jobs:
   rstudio:
     name: "rstudio/r-base:${{ matrix.r_version }}-${{ matrix.r_image }}"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -130,6 +132,7 @@ jobs:
   windows:
     name: AMD64 Windows RTools ${{ matrix.rtools }}
     runs-on: windows-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ruby.yml b/.github/workflows/ruby.yml
index dfa6530679920..ff6b726f430c5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ruby.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ruby.yml
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ jobs:
   ubuntu:
     name: AMD64 Ubuntu ${{ matrix.ubuntu }} GLib & Ruby
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -83,6 +84,7 @@ jobs:
   macos:
     name: AMD64 MacOS 10.15 GLib & Ruby
     runs-on: macos-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
     env:
@@ -134,6 +136,7 @@ jobs:
   windows:
     name: AMD64 Windows MinGW ${{ matrix.mingw-n-bits }} GLib & Ruby
     runs-on: windows-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/rust.yml b/.github/workflows/rust.yml
index ccc824c825b6a..3d474889dd673 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/rust.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/rust.yml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ jobs:
   debian:
     name: AMD64 Debian 10 Rust ${{ matrix.rust }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ jobs:
   windows:
     name: AMD64 Windows 2019 Rust ${{ matrix.rust }}
     runs-on: windows-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -102,6 +104,7 @@ jobs:
   macos:
     name: AMD64 MacOS 10.15 Rust ${{ matrix.rust }}
     runs-on: macos-latest
+    if: ${{ !contains(github.event.pull_request.title, 'WIP') }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/ci/scripts/util_checkout.sh b/ci/scripts/util_checkout.sh
index 384aa49a10321..25fe69aa13f0e 100755
--- a/ci/scripts/util_checkout.sh
+++ b/ci/scripts/util_checkout.sh
@@ -17,10 +17,9 @@
 # specific language governing permissions and limitations
 # under the License.
 
-# this script is github actions specific
+# this script is github actions specific to check out the submodules and tags
 
-# checkout the submodules, remove it once the "submodules: recursive" feature
-# gets released again
+# TODO(kszucs): remove it once the "submodules: recursive" feature is released
 auth_header="$(git config --local --get http.https://github.com/.extraheader)"
 git submodule sync --recursive
 git -c "http.extraheader=$auth_header" -c protocol.version=2 submodule update --init --force --recursive --depth=1