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The value of a day

Days pass so quickly and I'm sure that most of us have experienced the feeling when we realise that months have passed by and memories are a blur.

But how valuable were those days to our business?

From a lean perspective we can either spend our time on value adding activities, or on wasteful activities.

Let me clarify - there are two types of waste:
1 - Things that just shouldn't be done (non-essential waste) and should be eliminated
2 - Things that must be done, but we don't get paid for doing them (essential waste) and should be minimised

For example:

Value adding activities - doing the fundamental work that our client pays us for
Essential waste - strategic planning, HR, accounts, system development
Non-essential waste - re-working documents, waiting, taking longer than necessary

It is worth asking yourself from time to time - 'how valuable is this work that I am doing?' By understanding the payback that the work gives to the business we can craft better uses of our time and ultimately provides our clients with a more valuable service.


Smartspeed Consulting Limited
'For When Results Matter'http://www.smartspeed.co.uk/
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