GET RID OF USELESS WORK

Why read this:

Discover strategies to streamline efficiency and eliminate wasteful work.

In brief:

A study by General Electric's (GE) distribution division found that only 65% of employee efforts added value to their customers, prompting them to launch the ‘Work Out’ initiative to investigate and eliminate wasteful practices. At a three-day retreat, the employees came together to identify unnecessary tasks and discuss how to use their time more effectively.

Key findings:

• Most meetings are unnecessary.?Leaders discussed the decisions that they reached at earlier meetings and whether they could discern tangible positive impacts from them. They found that numerous meetings were ineffective and could be eliminated.
• Approval processes should be shorter.?Next, leaders discussed the lengthy wait for senior leaders to approve procedures and decided to address this issue by entrusting approvals to a more appropriate decision-making level.
• Reports should be more effective.?Finally, participants shared how few insights they gained from lengthy reports and committed themselves and their teams to finding new ways to share essential information.
• Good habits must be widespread.?After the retreat, the executive group stressed the need to eliminate unproductive tasks across the company. This approach worked, and distribution at GE emerged as a role model for implementing transformative practices.

The bottom line:

Reducing ineffective work is an often-neglected task. However, organisations must start simplifying processes in order to inspire employees and improve efficiency.

Humans hate wasting time and love saving it, so taking labour off people's hands is one of the most inspiring things any leader can do.

?Based on an article by?Rita Gunther McGrath

Published by Duke Corporate Education