Three Steps to Overcome Rework: Restoring Flow and Efficiency

Rework — the act of redoing work due to errors, omissions, or quality issues — is one of the most common and costly forms of process waste. It silently drains capacity, frustrates employees, and lowers customer satisfaction.

In process diagnostics, rework is often hidden because teams focus on throughput, not quality yield. However, to truly improve performance, organizations must examine how much effort is being spent doing things twice.

A Simple Scenario

Imagine a busy restaurant where a chef can prepare 12 dishes per hour. Before dishes are served, a senior chef inspects each one for quality. This reviewer can assess 10 dishes per hour — but 25% of those are returned for rework because they don’t meet standards.

The restaurant’s effective output isn’t 10 dishes per hour; it’s closer to 7 once rework is accounted for. Now, imagine applying this logic to a complex enterprise process involving multiple handoffs, systems, and approvals — the hidden cost multiplies dramatically.

Step 1: Assess Process Relevance

As organizations grow, processes evolve — often layering new tasks, exceptions, and approvals over time. The first step to reducing rework is analyzing process history to understand whether each step still serves a valid business purpose.

Ask:

• Is this activity aligned with today’s business priorities?

• Does it add value from the customer’s perspective?

• Has technology or policy made this step redundant?

This diagnostic phase removes process “clutter” and sets the stage for accurate measurement and redesign.

Step 2: Document to Clarify

Once the process is cleansed of unnecessary steps, document it through a Document of Procedure (DOP) or standard operating workflow.

A well-written DOP provides clarity, consistency, and accountability — ensuring that processes can be executed by anyone, not just experts.

The DOP also becomes the foundation for:

• Process benchmarking

• Training and onboarding

• Audit and compliance verification

• Continuous improvement initiatives

Documenting processes removes ambiguity, reduces reliance on tribal knowledge, and creates alignment across teams — a key driver in lowering rework rates.

Step 3: Establish Review Standards

Finally, create a standardized review cycle for process evaluation.

Define when processes should be revisited, how changes are assessed, and who governs approvals.

This builds process resilience — the ability to stay aligned with shifting business environments and customer needs.

In mature organizations, these reviews are tied to capability maturity frameworks or Lean governance models, ensuring that process performance remains transparent and continuously improved.

Root Cause: It’s Not the People — It’s the Process

Rework is rarely the result of individual error. More often, it stems from process misalignment — outdated workflows, ambiguous ownership, or lack of standardization. By systematically cleansing, documenting, and reviewing processes, organizations don’t just reduce rework — they reclaim capacity, improve quality, and strengthen operational maturity.

Transformation begins when we stop asking, “Who made the mistake?” and start asking, “Where does the process need to evolve?”

Brian Sebastian

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt | Business Process Architect | Organizational Change Strategist