The Hidden Wastes Holding Your Team Back—And How Lean Six Sigma Helps You Eliminate Them

Every organization has problems they can feel but can’t always identify clearly: slow turnaround times, frustrated customers, overwhelmed employees, rising costs. These symptoms don’t appear overnight—they grow quietly, often hidden beneath day-to-day routines.

Lean Six Sigma provides one of the most powerful lenses for exposing these hidden inefficiencies and transforming the way teams work.

This blog reveals the nine biggest “invisible wastes” found in organizations and how Lean Six Sigma helps uncover and eliminate them for good.

Why Waste Is the Silent Killer of Performance

In Lean, “waste” means any activity that consumes time, money, or effort but does not create value for the customer.

The challenge? Most waste is invisible until you learn to see it.

• Rework becomes “that’s just how we’ve always done it.”

• Delays turn into “we’re waiting on approvals.”

• Excess meetings feel like “good communication.”

Once you understand the Lean Six Sigma perspective, you can pinpoint exactly where value is lost—and where improvement will have the most significant impact.

The 9 Hidden Wastes You Need to Know

Waste within Lean is categorized into eight types. Originally developed within the Toyota Production System, there are seven classic types of waste. There is one additional type – underutilized skill or talent - that has gained recognition over time. The acronym TIMWOODS can be used to remember the eight types of waste.

Here’s what they look like in real life:

1. Transportation

Unnecessary movement of materials, files, or information.

Examples:

• Sending documents across multiple departments.

• Long physical distances between workstations.

• Duplicate data transfer between systems.

Fix With Lean Tools: Value Stream Mapping, Spaghetti Diagrams, Workflow Redesign.

2. Inventory

Anything sitting and waiting—unfinished work, extra supplies, or excess digital files.

Examples:

• Over-ordering materials “just in case.”

• Large backlogs of emails or service tickets.

• Too many draft versions of reports.

Fix With Lean Tools: Kanban, Pull Systems, 5S.

3. Motion

Unnecessary movement of people caused by poor layout or unclear systems.

Examples:

• Employees walking back and forth for supplies.

• Searching for files, tools, or information.

• Switching between systems and apps constantly.

Fix With Lean Tools: 5S, Workplace Layout Optimization, Standard Work.

4. Waiting

Idle time when people, information, or equipment is not ready.

Examples:

• Delayed approvals.

• Waiting for system access or IT fixes.

• Clients waiting for responses.

Fix With Lean Tools: Process Mapping, Root Cause Analysis, Level Loading.

5. Overproduction

Making more than needed, sooner than needed.

Examples:

• Creating reports no one reads.

• Producing inventory faster than sales demand.

• Sending unnecessary emails or copies.

Fix With Lean Tools: Takt Time, Pull Systems, Standardization.

6. Overprocessing

Doing more work than required by the customer.

Examples:

• Excessive data entry or verification.

• Multiple approval layers.

• Overly complex workflows.

Fix With Lean Tools: Simplification, SOP Review, Voice of Customer.

7. Defects

Errors, mistakes, or rework that consume time and money.

Examples:

• Incorrect data entry.

• Fixing customer complaints.

• Miscommunications causing redo work.

Fix With Lean Tools: Poka-Yoke, DMAIC, Root Cause Analysis.

8. Skills (Underutilized Talent)

Not using people’s abilities, creativity, or knowledge.

Examples:

• Leaders making all decisions instead of empowering teams.

• Employees not trained to solve problems.

• Improvement ideas ignored.

Fix With Lean Tools: Kaizen Culture, Coaching, Daily Huddles.

How Lean Six Sigma Makes These Wastes Visible

Tools such as:

• Value Stream Mapping (end-to-end view)

• Process Maps

• Root Cause Analysis

• Fishbone Diagrams

• Pareto Charts

• Time Studies

• Voice of Customer analysis

…enable teams to see what they previously missed.

Once you can see the waste, you can eliminate it—and that’s when performance dramatically shifts.

Real Example: Lean Waste Reduction in a Customer Service Team

A customer service center struggled with slow response times and rising call volumes.

A quick Lean review revealed:

• 35% of calls were duplicate follow-ups → defects

• Agents spent 20% of time searching for information → motion

• Long waits for supervisor approval → waiting

• Agents had no input into process design → unused talent

After applying Lean Six Sigma:

• Introduced standardized scripts (defect reduction)

• Created “quick-approve” rules (flow improvement)

• Held daily 10-minute huddles (talent engagement)

Results:

• Response time improved by 28%

• Repeat calls dropped by 40%

• Customer satisfaction increased by 18%

• Team engagement increased significantly

Why Eliminating Waste Is a Competitive Advantage

When organizations learn to see waste, they gain:

• Faster turnaround times

• More consistent quality

• Lower cost of operations

• Stronger customer satisfaction

• A more engaged workforce

• Greater agility and innovation

In a competitive world, Lean Six Sigma provides a vital edge.

Final Thoughts: Start by Seeing What Others Don’t

Waste hides in plain sight—until you learn how to see it.

Lean Six Sigma gives you that lens.

It reshapes how teams think, work, solve problems, and collaborate. Once you uncover hidden waste, improvement becomes natural, continuous, and deeply rewarding.