What’s Stealing Your Time and Money?

Most organisations lose 20–30% of their revenue to inefficient processes.
Yes—up to a third of your income is being burned by bottlenecks, delays, and rework. (Source: IDC)

You don’t need a PhD to spot process inefficiencies. You just need the right tools—and a good set of eyes.

Let’s keep this simple, quick, and practical. No buzzwords. No fluff. Just proven ways to find the leaks fast.

What Is a Process Inefficiency? (In Plain English)

A process inefficiency is anything that:

• Takes too long
• Costs too much
• Creates too many mistakes

💡 Example:
If approving one invoice takes 7 emails and 5 days, that’s not just slow. That’s waste.

📌 Quote to remember:

“You can’t improve what you don’t understand.”
– Peter Drucker

Step 1: Map the Process (You’ll Be Shocked What You See)

Start with a process map. It’s just a step-by-step drawing of how things work.

🛠️ Use sticky notes, a whiteboard, or free tools like Lucidchart or Draw.io.

Look out for:

• Repeated steps
• Long waits between tasks
• Loops, back-and-forth, or unnecessary approvals

🎯 Pro tip:
Get your team to map how they think it works. It often looks nothing like what’s in your SOPs.

Step 2: Ask “Why?” Like a Curious Kid

Use the 5 Whys technique. Ask why the problem happens—then keep asking why until you hit the root cause.

👶 Yes, it’s that simple. And powerful.

🧰 Example:

• Why is the report always late? → Data comes in late.
• Why is the data late? → The system update is slow.
• Why is it slow? → It’s outdated.
• Why haven’t we updated it? → No budget.
• Why no budget? → Nobody flagged it as a problem.

Now you know what to fix.

🗓️ Origin: This comes from Toyota—they used it to build world-class systems.

Step 3: Listen to the Frontline (They Know the Pain)

Forget the boardroom. The real answers live on the floor—with the people who run the process every day.

Ask them:

• What slows you down?
• What task do you wish we could fix?
• What do we do that makes no sense?

📝 Anonymous surveys work great if people are afraid to speak up. Honest answers will surprise you.

Step 4: Go Watch It Happen (Gemba Walks)

“Gemba” is a Japanese word. It means “the real place”—where the work actually happens.

Do a Gemba Walk:

• Go to where the process runs (office, factory, service desk)
• Watch with your own eyes
• Don’t interrupt—just observe
• Take notes

You’ll spot:

• People waiting on approvals
• Workarounds that waste time
• Silos that block collaboration

🎥 Seeing it in action beats any report.

Step 5: Check Simple Data (No Fancy Dashboards Needed)

You don’t need AI or a team of analysts. Start with simple data like:

• Time taken per task
• Error rates or rework counts
• Complaints from customers or staff

📊 Example:
If 15% of customer orders need to be redone, you’ve got a problem. And you’ve just found it.

Step 6: Hunt for Manual Work (The Automation Goldmine)

Manual steps are slow, error-prone, and expensive. Look for things like:

• Typing the same data into two systems
• Emailing for approvals
• Copy-pasting from spreadsheets

💡 Red flag: If it needs a human to remember it, it’s likely broken.

These are easy wins for automation tools like Zapier, Power Automate, or even simple scripts.

Final Thoughts: Fast Fixes Start with Fast Finds

You can’t fix what you can’t see. But now you’ve got the tools:

✅ Map the process
✅ Ask 5 Whys
✅ Talk to your team
✅ Watch it live
✅ Check the data
✅ Cut manual work

You don’t need a six-month audit. Just one hour of focus can reveal a goldmine of fixes.

📌 Final quote to leave with:

“Efficiency is doing better what is already being done.”
– Peter Drucker

Ready to get efficient and level up? Contact Now!