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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Making Work Visible summary
Brief summary
Making Work Visible by Dominica DeGrandis is a practical guide that helps individuals and teams improve productivity by visualizing and managing their work. It offers valuable insights and actionable strategies for reducing waste and increasing efficiency.
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Table of Contents
Making Work Visible
Summary of key ideas
Understanding the Invisible Workload
In Making Work Visible by Dominica DeGrandis, we are introduced to the concept of invisible work. The author argues that much of the work we do is unseen, untracked, and unmeasured. This invisible work is a significant source of stress and inefficiency, leading to a sense of being overworked and overwhelmed.
DeGrandis provides a compelling analogy to illustrate the invisible work phenomenon. She compares the work process to a factory, where everyone can see the work in progress and identify any bottlenecks. In contrast, modern work environments resemble a black box, where work enters and exits without visibility. This lack of visibility leads to a myriad of problems, including overburdened employees and low productivity.
The Five Thieves of Time
The book introduces the concept of the five thieves of time: too much work in progress, unknown dependencies, unplanned work, conflicting priorities, and neglected work. DeGrandis explains that these thieves are responsible for the majority of our invisible work and are the primary culprits behind our time management challenges.
She provides practical examples and real-life scenarios to illustrate how these thieves operate in the workplace. For example, too much work in progress, or multitasking, leads to reduced productivity and increased stress. Unknown dependencies cause delays and rework, while unplanned work disrupts our planned activities, leading to chaos and frustration.
Visualizing Work
To combat the five thieves of time, DeGrandis advocates for making work visible. She introduces the concept of visual management, a technique borrowed from lean manufacturing, to bring transparency to our work processes. Visual management involves using tools like Kanban boards, task boards, and other visual aids to represent our work and make it more manageable.
The author encourages us to visualize our work by creating a value stream map, a tool that provides a comprehensive view of our work processes. By mapping out our workflow, we can identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and sources of invisible work. This visualization enables us to implement targeted improvements, reduce waste, and optimize our work processes.
Implementing Flow Efficiency
DeGrandis then introduces the concept of flow efficiency, which measures the time a task spends in a work system versus the time it spends actually being worked on. She argues that traditional efficiency measures, such as resource utilization, can be misleading and counterproductive. Instead, we should focus on improving flow efficiency to reduce our invisible work and increase our productivity.
The author offers practical strategies to enhance flow efficiency, such as limiting work in progress, minimizing task switching, and managing unplanned work. She also emphasizes the importance of establishing a work in progress (WIP) limit, a maximum number of tasks allowed in a work system at any given time. By implementing these strategies, we can reduce our invisible work and achieve better outcomes.
Embracing a Culture of Continuous Improvement
In the final sections of Making Work Visible, DeGrandis stresses the importance of fostering a culture of continuous improvement. She encourages us to adopt a growth mindset, where we view challenges as opportunities to learn and improve. By embracing this mindset, we can continuously identify and eliminate sources of invisible work, leading to more efficient and fulfilling work experiences.
In conclusion, Making Work Visible by Dominica DeGrandis presents a compelling argument for the detrimental effects of invisible work on our productivity and well-being. By visualizing our work, understanding the five thieves of time, and embracing flow efficiency, we can reduce our invisible work and achieve better work-life balance. The book provides practical tools and strategies to help us make our work visible and reclaim our time.
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What is Making Work Visible about?
Making Work Visible by Dominica DeGrandis explores the challenges of modern work environments and offers practical solutions for improving productivity and reducing waste. Drawing on her experience in the tech industry, DeGrandis introduces the concept of work-in-progress (WIP) and provides valuable insights into how to visualize and manage work in order to achieve better results. This book is a must-read for anyone looking to optimize their workflow and make their work more efficient.
Making Work Visible Review
Making Work Visible (2017) sheds light on the crucial aspect of visualizing work to improve productivity and collaboration in teams. Here's why this book is worth your time:
- Featuring practical strategies and techniques, it helps teams enhance efficiency by making work processes transparent and manageable.
- By highlighting the impact of work visibility on team dynamics and outcomes, it underscores the importance of clear communication and shared understanding.
- Through real-world scenarios and case studies, the book brings the concepts to life, showing how implementing these ideas can revolutionize workflow and boost team performance.
Who should read Making Work Visible?
Individuals who feel overwhelmed by their workload and want to better manage their time
Managers and team leaders looking to improve productivity and efficiency within their teams
Professionals in the IT industry seeking practical strategies for visualizing and optimizing their workflow
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Making Work Visible FAQs
What is the main message of Making Work Visible?
The main message of Making Work Visible is to improve productivity by visualizing and understanding work processes.
How long does it take to read Making Work Visible?
The estimated reading time for Making Work Visible is a few hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in 15 minutes.
Is Making Work Visible a good book? Is it worth reading?
Making Work Visible is worth reading to optimize workflow efficiency. It provides actionable insights for better productivity.
Who is the author of Making Work Visible?
Dominica DeGrandis is the author of Making Work Visible.
What to read after Making Work Visible?
If you're wondering what to read next after Making Work Visible, here are some recommendations we suggest:
- Big Data by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier
- Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku
- On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins and Sandra Blakeslee
- Brave New War by John Robb
- Abundance# by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler
- The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver
- You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier
- The Future of the Mind by Michio Kaku
- The Second Machine Age by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
- Out of Control by Kevin Kelly