Marcia's Leadership Q and As: “Crazy Busy” is Waste

Q. Work is busy, busy, busy – always! How do we get better control?

A. Most organizations experience between 50 to 80% waste and complexity. But people become accustomed to the “way we do things” and the “status quo,” so they accept the waste because they don’t even see it. Busyness is not productivity. Yet people will stay busy rather than make the changes and improvements that can significantly streamline their work. Busyness becomes a bad habit. What needs to happen to reduce the busyness?

When teams work well together, they focus on a few essential elements. The team defines what they need to accomplish. They define their customer and what their customer wants, but more importantly what the customer needs! It’s simple, really: define the work and do the work! Easy, right?

To reduce the busyness, draw a direct line from the work to the client. Remove all the steps that don’t add value. Remove the barriers to delivering a high-quality product or service. Look at the flow of communication, information, and the work. How can you accelerate the flow by removing steps that add no value to the customer?

Focus on what the customer wants! When they call, do they want to be on hold to make a reservation or get technical support? Remove the complexity. The teams that streamline their processes and the management that have effective systems that deliver, can survive and thrive. Others will struggle and fail.

If your teams are busy improving, innovating and creating a spectacular customer experience, the waste and complexity will decrease. It’s a never-ending and relevant goal.