THE WORK BETWEEN THE WORK

The Work Between the Work

In most operations, we measure the work that gets done. Deliveries completed. Service calls finished. Installations done. Orders shipped. Customers served. Gallons delivered.

But there is another part of the workday that often goes unmeasured—and it can consume a significant amount of time, people, and capacity.

It is the work between the work. It includes everything employees have to do to get the actual job ready, keep it moving, and close it out: coordinating, following up, waiting for information, fixing handoffs, clarifying details, and resolving issues.

None of these tasks are the delivery, the service call, or the installation—but without them, the job often cannot be completed. When this hidden work grows, it reduces capacity, increases operating costs, and creates frustration for employees and customers.

What Is the Work Between the Work?

The work between the work is the time and effort required to move a job through the organization before, during, and after the actual execution of the work. It may include:

• Locating or confirming customer information
• Getting approvals or clarifications
• Coordinating schedules and routes
• Communicating between departments
• Finding equipment, parts, or product
• Resolving missing or incomplete information
• Waiting on someone else to take the next step
• Entering or correcting data
• Following up after the job is completed

These tasks are real work, they take real time, and they require real people. But they are often invisible in productivity numbers, route reports, and daily activity summaries.

Why It Matters

The work between the work affects more than just the employee who is doing it. It is an operating issue because it:

• Consumes labor and increases operating cost
• Reduces the number of jobs that can be completed
• Creates pressure on schedules and equipment
• Increases overtime and administrative time
• Leads to mistakes and rework
• Delays customer service and response times
• Frustrates employees who feel busy but not productive
• Limits the operation’s ability to grow

When a significant portion of the workday is spent managing the work instead of doing the work, the operation is not using its capacity as efficiently as it could.

A Common Example

A delivery may take one hour from start to finish. But before the truck ever leaves the yard, there may have been:

• A call to confirm the customer’s availability
• A check on product availability
• A discussion about special instructions
• A route adjustment due to a last-minute change
• A search for updated customer information
• A clarification on tank size, address, or access
• A follow-up after the delivery to confirm completion

None of these steps are the actual delivery, but each one requires time, people, and coordination. Multiply this across many deliveries, customers, or service calls, and the impact becomes significant.

Where the Hidden Labor Comes From

The work between the work is not random. It comes from specific sources that create friction, delay, and unnecessary coordination.

In most operations, the additional work does not come from a lack of effort. It comes from how the work has to move through the organization. Small issues in one area often create additional work in several other areas. Understanding where the hidden labor originates is the first step to reducing it.

Key Sources of Hidden Labor

1. Incomplete or Unclear Information. When customer details are missing or unclear, someone has to find the information. This may involve calls, emails, research, or multiple people asking the same questions. What could have been completed once at the beginning often gets repeated at several points in the process.
2. Handoffs Between Departments. As the work moves from sales to customer service, to dispatch, to field operations, to billing, important details can be lost or misunderstood. Each handoff creates an opportunity for additional communication, clarification, and follow-up.
3. Approvals and Decision Delays. When approvals are required but not immediately available, employees wait or spend time following up. Even short delays can disrupt schedules, create rescheduling work, and generate additional communication.
4. Scheduling Changes. Last-minute changes require more than a simple adjustment. Routes may need to be rebuilt, other customers notified, equipment reassigned, and employees informed. One change can create work across multiple departments.
5. Workarounds. When the normal process is difficult or inconsistent, employees create their own methods to get the job done. While workarounds can be helpful in the short term, they often require extra steps and may not be sustainable.
6. Reconciliation and Corrections. After the work is completed, someone often has to correct missing data, update records, resolve discrepancies, or re-enter information. This post-work effort is real labor that could often be avoided with better processes up front.

How Small Issues Create Bigger Work

A minor issue at the beginning of a job can create a chain reaction of additional work later. What starts as a missing detail or a scheduling change may eventually involve several people, multiple systems, and more time than the original job required.

None of these issues are unusual. The challenge is that they consume real time and resources, and they often affect more than one department.

The Multiplier Effect

The work between the work does not just add a few minutes. It multiplies.

A single missing detail can require several calls, multiple people, a schedule change, and documentation updates. When this happens across many jobs, the impact on labor, equipment utilization, and scheduling becomes significant.

Reducing these sources of hidden labor does not require eliminating all complexity. It starts with better information, clearer processes, and stronger coordination—so the organization can focus more time on the actual work.

Follow One Job Through the System

A simple exercise can reveal how much of the workday is spent doing the job—and how much is spent moving the job forward.

Every delivery, service call, installation, or customer request is more than a single task. It moves through a series of steps, people, and systems before it is completed. When we follow one job from beginning to end, we often find far more coordination and follow-up than expected.

This exercise is not complicated. It simply requires looking at one real job and tracking everything that had to happen to complete it.

The PAM Workflow Test

Pick one recent job—such as a delivery, service call, installation, or work order—and answer the following questions.

1. What Was the Request? How did it enter the organization? Who received it? What information was available at the start?
2. Who Was Involved? How many people or departments touched the job from start to finish?
3. What Systems Were Used? How many different systems, screens, or tools were required? Was information entered more than once?
4. Where Did Time Get Consumed? Did anyone have to wait for information, approval, equipment, or a response? How long?
5. What Had to Be Clarified? Were there calls, emails, or follow-ups to get missing or unclear information?
6. Were There Changes? Did the job require a schedule change, route adjustment, different equipment, or coordination with another department?
7. Was There Rework? Was anything entered incorrectly, completed twice, or corrected later?
8. How Long Was the Actual Work Compared to Total Elapsed Time? How much of the total time was productive work versus coordination, waiting, follow-up, and other non-value activity?

A Real-World Example: One Delivery

A routine delivery may look simple. But when we follow it through the organization, the steps can multiply.

Each step is necessary. But each step also creates opportunities for delays, additional communication, and extra work—especially when information is missing or changes occur along the way.

What This Exercise Reveals

• The total organizational effort required for a single job
• Where time, labor, and resources are being consumed
• How often information is missing or unclear
• Which handoffs create the most friction
• The difference between productive work and non-value activity
• Where improvements could reduce unnecessary work
• How much existing capacity may already be available

Reduce the Friction and Improve Capacity

Before adding people, equipment, or new systems, determine how much of your existing capacity is being consumed by unnecessary process friction.

The work between the work will always exist, but it does not have to be as large as it is today. Many organizations can recover significant capacity by simplifying how work moves through the company.

Practical Ways to Reduce Hidden Labor

1. Improve the Information Up Front. Start with complete and accurate information. Clear customer details, proper system entry, and defined requirements reduce questions, follow-ups, and corrections later.
2. Clarify Ownership. Everyone should know who has the next move. Clear responsibility reduces waiting time and unnecessary escalations.
3. Simplify Approval Processes. If approvals are necessary, make sure they add real value. Remove unnecessary steps that create delays without improving results.
4. Strengthen Handoffs. Define what information, documentation, and communication must move with the work to the next department or person.
5. Reduce Duplicate Entry. Look for opportunities to enter information once and use it across systems. Eliminate manual re-entry whenever possible.
6. Standardize Routine Work. Use clear procedures and templates for common jobs. Standardization reduces confusion, speeds up execution, and improves consistency.
7. Measure and Review. Periodically follow a job through the organization. Look for delays, missing information, repeat work, and other sources of friction. Use what you learn to make targeted improvements.

From Insight to Action

Consider a simple internal review. You do not need a large project to get started.

• Pick one common job. Use a delivery, service call, installation, or customer setup.
• Map the steps. Identify every touch, system, and person involved.
• Identify the friction. Look for missing information, delays, and unnecessary steps.
• Make targeted improvements. Focus on the areas creating the most non-value activity.
• Measure the results. Track time, labor, and follow-ups to see the impact.

Small, focused changes can often create meaningful improvements without major investment.

The Operational and Financial Benefit

Reducing the work between the work can lead to:

• More productive use of your people
• Lower operating costs
• Faster response times
• Better use of equipment and assets
• Fewer mistakes and less rework
• Improved customer experience
• Greater capacity without adding headcount or equipment

Efficiency is not just about doing the job faster. It is also about removing the unnecessary work that stands between your people and the work that matters.