From the Editor's Computer
I recently read that up to 50% of an
employee’s day is spent redoing tasks and projects. Did you get that? Up to 50% of the day is spent
redoing what was already done.
Now to clarify, that does not mean repeated,
routine tasks. For example, in the
library we are always checking in returned items - routine. However, if we set
them aside, and instead of putting them away, checked them all in again, that would
be redoing.
While it is not unusual for some new
information to pop up, or for a situation to dramatically change, after a task
or project has been started, it is quite rare.
Typically, the reason for employees to have
to redo completed work is generally because they were given inaccurate and/or
incomplete information to start with.
Withholding vital information from employees doing specific tasks ranks
right up near the top. Another reason,
is the person receiving the completed work totally changes their mind on a
whim. There are times employees will
have to redo someone else’s work due to the reasons listed above, or because
the employee purposely did the task incorrectly. Occasionally equipment failure will require
tasks or projects to be redone.
As well, there are instances when employees
are given a make-work project which then needs to be re-done to make more work
for them.
I don’t know about you, but I find that to
be very wasteful behaviour. Look how
productive people could be if they were given what they needed from the
beginning, and if their supervisors (or coworkers) didn’t pull juvenile power
games. It could even be possible to
completely eliminate overtime, as well as half the work day! How many people does it really take to do
particular tasks if the tasks are done correctly the first time?
This particular statistic was from the
business world, however it probably applies to all areas of our lives -
volunteer and personal. If you think you
don’t have time to do what needs done at work or home, look at how much time is
being spent redoing tasks and make changes.
Beth
To contact The Chautauqua, email: thechautauqua@gmail.com.
