Activity Analysis

Reveal whether the right people are doing the right work

Activity Analysis brings transparency on how the organization operates, revealing whether the right people are doing the right work at the right cost. 

People in the workforce are connected to work activities through survey responses reporting the activities being conducted, how much time is spent on each activity, and the accountabilities which are exercised (e.g., Responsible, Approve, Deliver). 

With compensation data included for people, the cost of end-to-end value chains, processes and component activities is revealed, and the cost impacts of changing work can be projected.


 

Optimize the efficiency of today’s organization

Typical Activity Analysis insights closely align to the root causes of organizational inefficiency identified in McKinsey’s 2023 The State of Organizations report:

Organizational Complexity

• Is there duplication of effort across the organization?
• Is work fragmented with multiple people providing small contributions of time?
• Is work getting done at the right level (or for example, are senior managers conducting tactical work)?

Unclear processes, roles and responsibilities

• Do multiple roles feel responsible for conducting/ overseeing the same work?
• Are there activities which no-one feels responsible for? 

Unwieldy governance/ Slow approvals mechanisms

• How much time is being spent overseeing/ approving work?
• Are there activities with excessive escalation and cross-team negotiation?
• Are risks faced through single-person dependencies?

Redundant activities; Too many meetings; Too much time spent on low value activities

• Are we investing in the right work to deliver the strategy?
• How much time is spent on low value activities?  What is the cost of this time?
• Which processes have avoidable rework?

Model the impact of changing work for tomorrow’s organization

Projecting the future workforce starts with anticipating how work will change.  For example, the question most frequently heard; “How will AI impact the workforce?” can only be addressed after a preceding question – “How will AI impact the work to be done?” – is addressed. 

Equipped with a true activity-based costing of the organization, the impact of changing work on the future size and cost of the organization can be projected.   

Whether applying established process optimization levers (e.g., offshoring, outsourcing, centralization, etc.) or anticipating the disruptive effects of generative AI, the approach is the same:  Actions are specified for individual work activities and a “multiplier” value projects the effect on the size and cost of the workforce.  Business cases are informed by revealing the “size of the prize” associated with changing how work gets done.

Furthermore, with employees linked to the work they conduct, the impact of changes on individual members of the workforce is revealed.  Understanding how much work, and which activities remain for individuals is critical to avoid naïve or risk-laden courses of action.  If cost reductions are planned, remaining work will need to be reallocated.
 

Apply process levers to activities (drag and drop)

Immediately see the impact on the size and cost of the workforce

Understand who is impacted, the scale of change and activities to be reallocated for cost savings to be realized

Related articles:

• Activity Analysis: Required and generated datasets
• The different Orgvue dataset types
• The Organisation System
• The Data Maturity Journey