What You're Spending on This Extra Work
The value of staff time spent dealing with this issue.
STRONGER SYSTEMS. MORE ROOM FOR YOUR MISSION.
How much is
inefficient work
costing your
organization?
Your team is working hard. But how much time and money are being tied up in repeated work, missing information, inconsistent processes, and preventable delays?
Find Your Hidden Costs ↗01 / RECOGNIZE THE HIDDEN COSTS · 3–4 MIN
Does any of this
feel familiar?
You can deliver important work and still lose time navigating unclear processes. These costs often stay hidden because they’re spread across people, teams, and everyday tasks.
PAUSE & REFLECT
Think about the last week. Where did your team repeat work, search for information, or wait for an answer?
Your notes stay in this page and are not sent anywhere.02 / THE HIDDEN COST CALCULATOR · 7–8 MIN
Put a number to
the extra work.
Start with an example, then make it yours. These are hypothetical scenarios, not industry averages. Explore one at a time: activities across scenarios may overlap.
How is this calculated?
Primary hours = employees × extra minutes ÷ 60 × occurrences each week × weeks. Additional hours = combined extra hours each week × weeks. Each group's hours are multiplied by its hourly cost, then added together.
03 / IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES · 3–4 MIN
What if you could spend
less time on this problem?
Imagine your organization made the process clearer, organized the information, or helped staff complete the work correctly the first time.
0% improvement75% improvement
Move the slider to explore different possibilities. This is a what-if scenario, not a prediction.hours potentially freed
estimated value of that time
04 / YOUR PERSONALIZED RESULTS · 3 MIN
What this could mean
for your organization.
Your estimated results, based on the information you entered.
Hours Going Into This Problem
Time spent on work that could potentially be reduced.
Time You Could Get Back
If you cut this extra work by the percentage selected.
What That Time Is Worth
The value of staff time you could free up.
These figures estimate the value of staff time, not guaranteed cash savings. Actual results depend on the changes implemented and the time saved.
← Return to the scenarios and explore another example
05 / WHERE TO START · 2–3 MIN
You can start with
one improvement.
You don’t have to solve everything at once. Choose one recurring issue, make one practical change, and track what happens.
YOUR STARTING POINT /
Find the beginning.
Identify where the extra work begins. Ask the people closest to it what gets in their way.
Make it clear.
Clarify the process, responsibility, or information needed so everyone has a shared starting point.
Measure the change.
Make one improvement and measure whether it reduces the time spent on the issue.
Start with five days of observation.
A simple worksheet to capture what happened, who was affected, and what could prevent it next time.
What the Research Says
Research helps explain why these challenges matter. It does not validate the calculator’s example hours, rates, or improvement percentage. Necessary onboarding, searching, reporting, and management work should not all be treated as avoidable.
McKinsey Global Institute · 2012
The Social Economy estimated that interaction workers spent about 19% of their week searching for and gathering information. This includes necessary work, not just preventable searching.
Read the report ↗Asana · 2022
The Anatomy of Work survey explored duplicated work and coordination among knowledge workers. Survey findings do not establish avoidable hours for your organization; the rework example here is hypothetical.
Explore Anatomy of Work ↗Gallup · 2019
Gallup highlights effective onboarding and active manager involvement. Its findings do not establish a universal number of avoidable onboarding hours.
Read the research ↗Plinth / Timetospare · 2019
A small UK charity interview sample informed an estimate of about 40 hours per grant monitoring report. This refers to overall preparation, not preventable chasing, and is not a universal estimate for US nonprofits.
Read the analysis ↗EQUITABLE BREAKTHROUGH SOLUTIONS
Ready to do something
about what you found?
Identifying the cost is the first step. The next is making changes that help your team work more consistently, with clearer responsibilities and fewer recurring problems.
Equitable Breakthrough Solutions helps nonprofits and growing businesses strengthen the processes, systems, and day-to-day practices that support their work.
A focused $3,000 implementation engagement designed to help you address a specific operational challenge and put practical improvements in place.