Why not every task adds value
To-do lists, calendars, meetings, Slack messages, emails, queries, more queries – and at the end of a full day, you still feel like nothing has really progressed. Sound familiar?
Welcome to the daily grind of many digital service providers. We are constantly busy. But not necessarily productive. And that's due to a fundamental error in thinking: we confuse activity with value creation.
What is ‘value’, actually?
In the lean approach, ‘value’ is a very clearly defined term. An activity only adds value if it:
1. directly contributes to the result,
2. is desired or paid for by the customer,
3. and is not avoidable through better processes.
This may sound technical at first, but in practice it is radically clarifying. Because suddenly it becomes clear how much of your daily work costs time but does not generate any actual benefit.
A few examples:
Value-adding: You develop a feature that the customer has ordered.
Not adding value: You write an internal email because important information was missing from the briefing.
Borderline case: You answer questions because the customer did not understand the project overview.
The latter may be necessary – but that is not an ideal situation either. Because it shows: there is a lack of clarity. And clarity is part of good value creation.
The power of value definition
In lean thinking, every process improvement begins with a so-called value definition. This means: you look at your processes very soberly and ask a crucial question:
‘Which of these activities really create value – for the customer and for my company?’
This perspective changes your daily work.
Suddenly you notice how much time is spent on tasks that only arose because something else was not clear, not easy or not automated. You recognise the loops you are constantly repeating. Which meetings are not productive. And where everyone is just busy without getting closer to the goal.
A typical day at the agency – seen through lean management glasses
A customer calls and asks for an update.
Why, actually? Perhaps because the project status is not visible to him anywhere.
Two team members discuss a ticket description for 20 minutes.
The ticket was too unclear. The info should have been in there. Instead, two professionals have to guess what was actually meant.
You are looking for that one Excel spreadsheet for the third time.
Because there is no centralised storage. Because no one knows which document is the current one. And because the file is called ‘Kundenangebot_neu_final_FINAL_3’.
Each of these situations is part of our daily routine. But it is also Muda – the Japanese word for waste. And it is avoidable.
What you can do
When you start analysing your daily work routine in terms of value and waste, you have a tool that makes real change possible. You can:
- Identify and simplify unclear processes,
- Automate or eliminate unnecessary tasks,
- Shift your team's focus back to what really matters.
And that pays off. Not only economically, but also emotionally. Because nothing is more frustrating than meaningless work.
How lead time helps
Lean Thinking is the basic idea behind Leadtime. Our software was built to help you recognise exactly this difference: What is really important – and what is not?
With Leadtime you can:
- precisely record how much time is spent on what,
- structure tasks clearly and make them reusable,
- make ticket histories transparent,
- and make the added value of your teams visible.
Because when you know what's important, you no longer need to-do lists that go on forever. All you need is a system that helps you do the right things right.