Overview

Making work visible is a book written by Dominica DeGradis who is a technology time management expert. According to DeGradis, in the current century time theft is revealed as the real crime of the century. The book is divided into three parts.  DeGradis exposes the five key sources of value stream delay, the operational solutions to make work visible and the metrics required to track workflow thus saving time.  In the book, readers acquire real practices that generate high-performance flow within an institution.

The author highlights the following five thieves of time; too much work in progress, unknown dependencies, unplanned work, conflicting priorities and neglected work.  Such factors have led to the high cost of operation of various companies. DeGradis however, offers a simple solution to make work visible. The author uses colorful diagrams in his work, easy going writing styles, real-world examples and takeaways. Notably, this helps the readers to clearly understand the message delivered.

The Five Thieves of Time

According to DeGradis, when there is too much work in progress (WIP), some work will not per efficiently complete. Outstandingly, this implies that work will be partially completed since the team will not have enough capacity. Having too much WIP will negatively impact on the enterprise since there will be delayed value delivery, the high cost of operation as well as conflicting priorities on which task to be completed first. DeGradis argues that different people undertake tasks beyond the team’s capacity due to various reasons such as fear of humiliation, desire to focus on new task since the previous was boring and tiresome, and desire to please people and lack of prior knowledge on the size of the task. Such factors may hinder efficiency in service delivery by a company.

DeGradis in his book indicated that too much WIP may lead to poor performance of the employees. Irritation of the staff may contribute to poor performance and therefore, reducing the quality of commodities and work. He also indicated that interruptions are likely to creep in in case of too much work in progress within an enterprise.

DeGradis defines unknown dependencies as things that need to be done before completion of a task but you were not aware initially. According to DeGradis, unknown dependencies emerges when the human resources are not available when you need them. It may also occur when one part of the plan is changed and this unexpectedly changes something else. He, therefore, argued that, each dependency duos the probabilities of being late.

Unplanned work is also among the five thieves of time. Unplanned work sets back the planned work. Such work increased the chances of uncertainties within the system thus making the system less predictable. DeGradis showed that unintended work occurs as unnecessary rushed work appeal. The expedited work will tend to steal time from the planned work thus reducing its value. Since such work increases uncertainty, it snacks down employees’ morale. Unplanned work is also associated with too much WIP. Thus, it introduces interruption, late work completion and increased operating cost.  DeGradis suggests that it is important to plan for unplanned work by reserving some capacity for when it occurs.

There are times when the staffs do not agree on what to work on. Notably, this brings about conflicting priorities. It is important to reduce the volume of work in progress in order to concentrate on fewer tasks. Arguably, this is achieved through effective prioritization. If the workers do not specialize in a certain field, they tend to overwork and every task takes more time. In his book, DeGradis indicated that, if everything is priority one, then nothing is priority one and everything will take longer to be achieved. An indicator of conflicting priorities is revealed when you devote more time in a meeting trying to figure out the key priorities for an enterprise.

Solution to the Thieves of Time

One of the most neglected types of work is legacy system maintenance.  Old flimsy systems will tend to degenerate thus making them unpredictable as the mechanical arrears add up. When a new request continuously exceeds repairs work, the ignored work will sit alone and technical debt will pile up.  If the problem of neglected work is not fixed in advance, the important neglected work becomes an emergency. Neglected work fails to get necessary attention, funding and suitable resources for it to be successful.

DeGradis outlined the following key elements for work visualization; structure, relevance, honesty and usefulness. The visuals are important since they help to indicate the enterprise’s pain points and other concealed information.  The first step in making work visible is to identify the kind of work done by the team.  After identifying the team’s activities, then highlight the roadblocks hindering their achievement.  Secondly, outline the various types of items that offer support to the different workflows, the number of urgencies and metrics. Consequently, this would form the foundation of developing the Kanban Board which helps in making work visible.

The work should also be broken down into categories. Markedly, this will help the workers and other key stakeholders to visualize workflow. Consequently, this will help them to have a clear understanding of the communication needs of the people within and outside the team. In order to keep a keen check of the linear visible workflow, WIP limits are set at the top of the column of the Kanban Board. WIP is any system is important since it creates tension within the structure thus empowering completion of the work.  It is also important to understand that all the work in an enterprise, whether visible or invisible WIP has a connected cost.

DeGradis postulated that it is relevant to visualize interruptions. Outstandingly, this will help to expose the unplanned work. He also suggested that making unplanned work visible to other people will help them understand the reason why the work is not done. It is also important since it will help to set measures in place which will prevent unplanned work in the future.  He also indicated that knowing the ration between the planned and unplanned work is important since one is able to plan for the available workload capacity. He highlighted the following solutions to unplanned work; Pomodoro technique, setting aside Office Hours and Do Not Disturb Hours.

Prioritization strategy in any enterprise is vital. DeGradis stated that if all tasks are offered the first priority, it would simply mean that there is no priority. Therefore, setting such a strategy in place will help to know which work will be completed next. Certainly, this will help to avoid the challenge of multi-tasking arising as a result of conflicting priorities. Ranking the tasks are associated with high-quality work and effective time management. The following are ways in which prioritization can be done as outlined in the book; Highest paid person’s Opinion, Cost of Delay, First in First Out and Weighted Shortest Job First.  DeGradis further elaborated that, many companies are ignorant of queues. Hence, this implies that they tend to focus more on the efficiency of the resources and not the efficiency of the entire system. It is therefore important to calculate the cost of the delayed work while setting the priorities.

Wen work is neglected it may stay for a week or so without being touched. As a result, one may forget the details and instruction of the work. Doing many things at the same time may not yield expected outcomes. More time may also be taken to complete the work. Partially completed work does not add any value to an enterprise. Therefore, neglected work reduces the value of deliverables. The challenge of neglected work can be addressed by first acknowledging its presence, create a space to finish the more imperative tasks and avoid beginning new work before concluding the initial work.

Metrics

The management of any enterprise should address the question of predictability. It is critical to adopt a probabilistic approach based on a given timeframe. Having a well-defined metric helps an organization to realize how long a given task will take and therefore, remain focused in the right direction. The book highlights the following are examples of good metrics which shows the actual progress; cycle time, ageing reports, lead time, and WIP. According to DeGradis, flow time refers to the time taken for a given task to be done from the beginning to the end. Flow time comprises of lead time and cycle time. A constant increase in WIP reduces the level of predictability.

The author states that unpredictable events lead to variability. An increase in variability within an enterprise increases the chances of capacity overload. He also quantified that higher utilization of resources and human capital is accompanied by a high cost and risk. Notably, this is the baseline of the Queuing Theory in Economics. DeGradis directed that short lead time can best be predicted by the small batch size of work.

Time Thief O’Gram is viewed as a spotlight which sheds light on the uncertainties occurring across an enterprise while intending to look at metrics that discloses great risks. It can be made by cataloguing all the five thieves of time, the risks involved, measuring such risks and tracking them. Consequently, this would help team leaders to identify the key issues facing the team members thus employ suitable measures to improve predictability and reduce the level of risks.

In any business monthly operation review is paramount since it helps in collecting data. Significantly, this will help to identify business opportunities for continuous improvement. Operation reviews offer response loops thus aiding the management team to understand the progress of the organization hence enabling them to make informed decisions.

In The Art of the Meeting the author states that for changes to occur, people’s behaviors have to change. Additionally, he states that, for their behaviors to change, their mindset and hearts have to be open to change.  Such changes can be realized by having a face to face conversation in safe, respectable and calm settings. A standup meeting is also important where the team members express their views. They also touch on the invisible work thus creating awareness to the entire team.

In making good decision visibility of accurate metrics is helpful. However, it depends on the transparency of other people. It is also risky to correlate business values and activities. Exceptionally this implies that a high level of activity does not directly translate to high business values. It is also clear in the book that, high activity levels indicate hidden lines which result in delayed project timelines. It is hard to manage imperceptible work. One can only manage it by visualizing it in the Kanban Board, limiting WIP in order to decrease the level of demand and also by defending the team from continuous disruption. By accomplishing these, the business will stand a better position to realize optimal benefits.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, there are five key thieves of time which include; unknown dependencies too much work in progress, unplanned work, neglected work and conflicting priorities. Extra WIP reduces the capacity of a given team to undertake more work. It may result in substandard deliverables and low employee morale. Unplanned work delays the planned work. Such a workload is associated with a high level of uncertainties.  Conflicting priorities is also a key thieve of time. In any enterprise, the management should highlight their priorities. Notably, this will help avoid too much WIP and help allocate the staffs to their respective duties. Additionally, ranking priorities will enable the production of high-quality deliverables and reduced employee friction. Neglected work fails to get full attention in terms of funding and allocation of suitable resources.

The company should embrace the necessary metrics in order to visualize work. The concept of The Art of the Meeting indicates that, for changes to occur, people have to change their own behavior. Similarly, for their behaviors to change, they must first change their mindset and hearts. Businesses should also embrace probabilistic approaches, thus enabling them to minimize time wastage and also offer high-quality services. Therefore, companies should employ recommendable metrics such as cycle time, ageing reports, lead time, and WIP.

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