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In Lean: 8 wastes checklist
Follow one real item from arrival to done, or sit with someone while they do the work. Each time you see one of these, add a mark and a note. You are there to learn about the process, never to check on people.
One real, recent item, not a typical one from memory.
Is the work stuck, moving, piling up, or is a person hunting?
| Kind of waste | In Lean | Signs in office work | Quick test | SeenOne mark each time. | Where, and what exactly? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waiting | waiting | An item stuck behind an approval, a reply or a system. People chasing for a status update. | Is one item or one person stuck behind something specific? | ||
| Handoffs | transportation | Work forwarded from team to team. A file exported from one tool and loaded into another. | Does the work itself move between people, teams or tools? | ||
| Backlog | inventory | A shared inbox or ticket queue that grows week on week. Drafts started and parked. | Are you describing the pile as a whole, not one stuck item? | ||
| Searching and switching | motion | Hunting for the latest version or for who owns something. Switching between tabs to finish one task. | Does one person travel between places to do their own task? |
Everyone involved may be busy and working hard. Look at what the effort produces.
| Kind of waste | In Lean | Signs in office work | Quick test | SeenOne mark each time. | Where, and what exactly? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Errors and rework | defects | A request sent back for missing details. A report corrected after it went out. | Was something wrong or incomplete, so it has to be done again? | ||
| Work nobody uses | overproduction | A weekly report nobody opens. Work prepared before anyone asked, then redone. | Does anyone use this output, now? | ||
| Extra steps | extra-processing | The same data typed into a second system. A sign-off that has never changed a decision. | The output is used: does it take more effort than its purpose needs? | ||
| Skills not used | non-utilised talent | Specialists keying data or resetting passwords. A problem raised every week with nowhere to take the idea. | Does the work need what this person knows, and can their ideas go anywhere? |
Describe the process, never a person. Ask before watching a screen, note the kind of information on it but never a customer's details, and do not fix or correct anything on the spot.
In Lean: 8 wastes checklist
One row per thing you saw. Write what happened to the work, not who did it. Most real frictions show more than one waste: name the main one, and a second only if it is really there.
| No. | Which step, in which tool? | What happened to the work?Stuck, moving, piling up, or a person hunting. | Kind of wasteUse the names on page 1. | How do you know?Dates, counts, the screen you watched. |
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What did the people doing the work say was missing when you showed them your notes?
They are the experts on their step.
Which one thing you saw will you write up first as a problem?
Pick the one where the work waits or goes wrong most often, and start from where the problem begins, not where it is noticed.