For those of you that have not been exposed to the concept of rework- it is the act of having to reinvent, redo, redesign something that was done inefficiently to begin with and now someone has to step in and pick up the pieces. The most important aspect of rework is that most times the task and/or project had every possibility of being done correctly in the first place, but because of egos, poor listening, no listening, and complete and utter disregard for making effective decisions said task was done poorly.
As some may have witnessed in an afternoon tweet from me yesterday- I loathe rework and more importantly inefficiency. I could be wrong but I would like to think inefficiency is a choice not a matter of circumstance. I believe people actually make a conscious decision to be inefficient. Why would someone make a conscious decision to be inefficient in their day to day work? They do it because it is comforting. You ever meet someone that knows a process is ineffective and has been for years but will champion that process until the cows come home because that is the way it has always been done. Never mind that a whole lot of nothing gets done in the process.
The problem with this is when circumstance rears its ugly head and suddenly you have to spring into the 21st century like everyone else you know not how to plan work to a positive outcome. Instead, there are meetings and more meetings and one bad process after another. All of this only to find out in the end that what you needed to accomplish was not accomplished and as such it becomes rework.
Common sense is a human’s best friend, It keeps you grounded, it is the foundation that intelligent, logical thinking is built upon. When you have grounded, intelligent, logical thinkers at the table there is bound to be more positive outcomes and less rework. In a day and age, where budgets are tight, resources are scarce, and the workforce is shrinking how can you justify inefficient processes, policies and people?
I don’t think any business can afford the frustration, wasted man hours and resources that is synonymous with rework. I’m not at all insinuating that all must be an immaculate perfection in the workplace. However, I do think that sometimes people figure it’s best to do business as usual and create rework because rework ensures job security. What a terrible precedent to set? In time, a person’s quest to lazy job security will be halted because the inefficiency will affect the business and you may be out of a job after all.
Working smart is being informed, planning the work not letting the work run you and doing things that will result in the best outcome for the business and customer.
Measure twice and cut once. Rework is the devil. Drive a stake in it the next time you see it.