The hidden cost of “that’s how we’ve always done it”.

Office waste rarely looks dramatic. It looks like a small delay, a second spreadsheet or a question that gets asked every morning.

Look for waiting, not just working

A request may take ten minutes to complete but spend days waiting for approval. Record when work arrives, when someone can act on it and when it leaves. This shows whether the problem is effort, availability or an unclear decision.

Follow the information

Every time information changes hands, ask what the next person needs and whether they receive it. Missing details create follow-up messages; duplicated records create reconciliation. A simple intake checklist can do more than a complicated new system.

Remove a step before speeding it up

Challenge reports that nobody uses and approvals that do not change the outcome. Ask the team what would happen if the step disappeared. Keep necessary controls, but make their purpose and ownership explicit.

Build improvement into the week

Choose one recurring frustration. Agree a small change, an owner and a review date. Ask whether the work became easier and whether anything else became harder. Lean thinking is a continuing practice of learning from the work.