Back in October 2010 I made a long post about 'Lean" - the idea that successful operations are those that strictly focus on those activities which 'add value' and abhor waste.
I have just noticed a most comprehensive list of sources of waste, reported in Radnor et al - Evaluation of the Lean Approach to Business Management and its Use in the Public Sector Scottish Executive Social Research 2006 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/06/13162106/0
- Rework
- Preparing unnecessary reports
- Working with badly designed IT systems
- Fire fighting
- Working from unreliable information
- Checking other people's work
- Too many meetings/working groups
- Progress chasing
- Doing things others have already done
- Obtaining authorisation
- Work not fit for purpose
- Dealing with failure demand (i.e. demand for a service which results from failure to do something which is expected - e.g. "I am just calling up to find out what has happened to the referral I made")
