Cost of bureaucracy I recently saw an RFP (Request for Proposal) from a state agency that was looking for coaching and assessment services. As the owner of a company that provides these services, I reviewed the opportunity and quickly decided not to pursue it. Despite having the ability to effectively provide the requested services, it wasn’t worth my time to submit the required proposal. I understand why government must be impartial in selecting vendors, but why does an RFP need a cover page, a main document, five exhibits and four appendixes? Seriously, this RFP had 11 documents to follow before submitting a proposal, and that doesn’t include a “pre-proposal conference,” a Q&A document, and a future process with a committee of folks who need months to review all the proposals. Sheesh! If a private company regularly did this, it would be out of business. Yet private companies also suffer from bureaucratic and inefficient processes that are less obvious.
Business Operations By Mike Leigh Executive Summary: Government has the reputation of being bureaucratic and inefficient. Unfortunately, the reputation is well-deserved.
An organization makes money (or supports its citizens) by providing value-adding services and products. The employees that are building the products and providing the services are doing “value-added work.” Any task that an organization asks these employees to conduct that does not directly contribute to the product or service they are providing is wasteful. For example, I recently heard about a construction company whose management was frustrated that their field employees were not submitting timely expense reports. The leadership wanted ideas to hold their employees accountable. This is the wrong way to address this issue. Instead, the leadership should be asking why the expense reports were late instead of blaming employee motivation. Even better, they should examine if expense reports are needed at all! I can almost guarantee that their expense report process was probably too cumbersome for a construction worker who only wanted to get the job done. Every minute a worker must adhere to some administrative edict from management is a minute that worker is not providing a product or service to a customer. Reports. Paperwork. Email. Meetings. Ugh! These items and activities are sometimes needed, but many are ineffective and time-wasting.
Send your questions or comments to Mike@ OpXSolutionsllc.com
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An organization that clearly understands which of their processes are value-adding and strives to reduce all other activities that distract from them will be more responsive, efficient, and profitable. And, just as important, the employees will be more motivated and engaged because their time is not being wasted.
t AUGUST 2023 / vbFRONT.com
