,Business TipsSeptember 2019
Wolseley PRO Pipeline Blog
By Greg Weartherdon
Work smarter, not harder! How many times have you heard that one? Usually when it’s uttered, everybody and anybody nods their head with conviction that doing so is the right move. The problem is no one explains or defines what working smart looks like. To make matters worse, you probably thought you were already working smarter! If it’s any consolation, you’re not alone in trying to figure it out.
One of the most common problems I find with growing contracting businesses is that they have trouble identifying high value and low value activities being performed by their various employees, including the owners. Not knowing the difference between the two can have a tremendous impact on the performance of the organization and your effectiveness.
Define high and low value activities
Before going any further, let’s define high and low value activities. Simply put, high value activities require specialized skills or training, and generate higher revenues and profitability. While all activities in a company can be defined as high value, the activity must align with the individual’s specialized skill set or knowledge. What can be considered low value for one individual, is in fact a high value activity for someone else. For example, having an experienced HVAC or plumbing technician doing administrative work, is an example of a mismatch of skills. Aligning an individual’s skills and primary job function with the work they do is critical for continued growth and effectiveness.
Why this happens
In the early days of a company’s life, everyone hired is expected to perform many wide-ranging duties.
Many of these duties or tasks didn’t require any training or need to align with an individual’s skill set. The company just needed someone to do the job. Good or bad, that’s just the way it is. However, over time as the enterprise grows, this philosophy remains in place because no one has taken the time to question whether it makes sense or if it creates roadblocks to getting more important things done.
False savings
What ultimately happens is, as the company grows, the demands of an individual’s technical role increases. As a result, they are not able to dedicate themselves to these higher value or primary responsibilities because they are constantly being distracted by lower value activities or “busy work”, which are mostly administrative activities. To put this another way, why would you pay someone $35/hr to do what is easily a $18/hr job?
Here are just a few examples:
- The bookkeeper doubles as the de facto office manager. As the company grows the financials become significantly more important (High Value) yet they are being distracted by needing to order supplies (Low Value).
- The service manager (High Value) also oversees the company vehicle maintenance program (Low Value). Although it’s important to keep equipment in top running order, most of these schedules are time based and therefore can be delegated to a more junior position.
- The sales manager (High Value) who also must produce the physical invoice (Low Value). As a company grows, invoicing becomes a time-consuming task and if I know sales people, producing invoices is a painfully tedious exercise. Wouldn’t their time be better spent using their skills to generate more sales for the company and let someone else do the administration?
- The owner of a contracting business orders parts. Wouldn’t that time be better spent training existing staff to be more efficient? Better still would be to spend a couple of hours a week networking with key individuals in the community, where a single order could be worth thousands of dollars.
These are just some typical examples of where good intentions end up costing a company’s growth and profitability. They effectively sideline their key resources with activities that they’re not particularly good at and would prefer not doing. To compound the situation, when individuals have to do things that they don’t enjoy, they tend to get done poorly or not at all. Plus, you waste time that could be spent more productively.
We must remember that people go to work to be successful, and in order to do so it usually means being able to do what they are good at and enjoy.
Granted, every position in every company has duties that are not to the individual’s liking. But the real trick is to ensure that the majority of their time is spent performing duties and tasks that align with their training and offer the greatest return for the company.
Not sure if you currently have an alignment problem with high and low value activities among your team? Just ask them.
Greg Weatherdon is a small business expert and author of Get More LIFE Out of Your Business. He is a featured speaker at the 2019 Wolseley One Tradeshows He also produces The Small Business Minute Podcast that available on all major platforms including iTunes, Google Play and Spotify. Visit www.gregweatherdon.com for more information.
FAQs
Define high and low value activities
What are high value activities and low value activities? ›
Evaluate how you spend your time.
What specific activities do you engage in each day? Of those activities, what percentage are high-value (strategic planning, landing new clients, and so on), and which are low-value (invoicing, categorizing expenses, scheduling, answering emails, etc.)?
What is an example of high value activities? ›
I think the high-value activities tend to be some variation of the following:
- Customer interaction (virtual, remote, connect with experts)
- Product innovation and ideation.
- Work from anywhere on any device.
- Comprehensive and cross-boundary collaboration (employees, customers, and partners.)
- Connecting with experts.
Low-value work comprises tasks that mean little or nothing to customers or colleagues. They are typically routine and don't require collaboration, like responding to emails, scheduling meetings, or reorganizing a spreadsheet.
What are examples of valued activities? ›
Common examples could be exercise, quality time with your family, productive time at work, educational activities, improving some part of your financial situation, or even helping others achieve their goals. If you are being honest with yourself then you intuitively know which actions are high-value and which aren't.
What is a high value activity? ›
Simply put, high value activities require specialized skills or training, and generate higher revenues and profitability. While all activities in a company can be defined as high value, the activity must align with the individual's specialized skill set or knowledge.
What are the two types of value activities? ›
Components of a Value Chain
According to Porter's definition, all of the activities that make up a firm's value chain can be split into two categories that contribute to its margin: primary activities and support activities.
What are some activities which are considered less valued? ›
Activities -cleaning, washing, cutting hair, picking garbage etc. are considered low or less value.
What is an example of a high value action? ›
Most websites and apps have actions that marketers and product owners want to drive, like submitting a lead form, buying something, downloading something, or enrolling in a newsletter. We call these events High Value Actions (HVAs).
What are high value-added activities? ›
Value-Added Activities: These are activities that directly contribute to the creation of a product or service as perceived by the customer. They transform inputs into something the customer is willing to pay for. Value-added activities enhance the quality, functionality, or appearance of the product.
You can say something like, “I appreciate the opportunity, but I am currently overloaded with work and my productivity is suffering as a result. I want to be able to do my best work, and I don't feel that I can take on any more at this time.” You can suggest alternative solutions that might work for your boss.
What are three examples of what you value in a workplace? ›
What are examples core values?
- Integrity: Acting ethically and transparently in all business dealings, prioritizing doing the right thing over personal gain. ...
- Innovation: Pushing past the status quo with bold and progressive ideas. ...
- Accountability: ...
- Honesty: ...
- Respect: ...
- Passion: ...
- Trust: ...
- Teamwork:
Take a look at this list of corporate values: Communication. Respect. Integrity. Excellence.
What are the five types of activities? ›
In total there are five types of human activities namely primary human activities, secondary human activities, tertiary human activities, quaternary human activities, and quinary human activities. These types of human activities together with their examples are going to be explained one by one below.
What is an example of a meaningful activity? ›
Activity can also include activities of daily living such as mealtimes, personal care and physical activity. It can also include the smaller moments such as the conversations that are not often recorded.
What is a value activity? ›
What is a Value-Added Activity? A value-added activity is any action taken that increases the benefit of a good or service to a customer. A business can vastly increase its profitability by recognizing which activities increase value and which do not, and stripping away the non value-added activities.
What are low value-added activities? ›
is an activity that consumes resources but adds little value to customers. The elimination of a low value-added activity does not change or slightly diminishes customer satisfaction. Examples of low value-added activities include setting up machines, moving product parts, waiting, reworking, inspecting and storing.
What are the two types of activities in the value chain are known as? ›
The primary activities of the value chain include inbound logistics, operation outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service. Secondary activities or the support activities include firm infrastructure, human resources management, and procurement.
What are non value and value-added activities? ›
Value-Added Activities: These are those activities for which the customer is willing to pay for. Non-Value-Added Activities: These are those activities for which the customer is not willing to pay for. They only add to cost and time. Non-value-added activities are also called "wastes," as delved in the last article.
These are just some typical examples of where good intentions end up costing a company’s growth and profitability. They effectively sideline their key resources with activities that they’re not particularly good at and would prefer not doing. To compound the situation, when individuals have to do things that they don’t enjoy, they tend to get done poorly or not at all. Plus, you waste time that could be spent more productively. 
