Checklist

Find Hidden Waste — Operational Audit Checklist

An interactive, saveable operational audit that guides teams through scoping, evidence capture, quick metrics, prioritized opportunities, and experiment briefs so audits lead to measurable tests instead of long unguided lists.

Interactive Tool

Find Hidden Waste — Operational Audit Checklist

Use this guided audit to inspect a process, product flow, or customer journey. Capture evidence, quick metrics, prioritized opportunities, and experiment briefs you can act on. Aim for testable changes rather than lists of complaints. Save entries so you can compare, prioritize, and seed experiments.

Describe the process boundaries, location, timeframe and the value outcome you care about (example: reduce lead time from order to shipment).
Paste a short end-to-end map or a link to a diagram, screenshot, or shared file location.
List the teams, roles, or systems involved at each step (e.g., Sales, Fulfillment, QA, External Vendor).
Note where work waits, typical wait time, and how often it occurs.
Describe common rework loops, defect types, triggers, and frequency.
Capture where ownership changes cause ambiguity, duplication, or waiting.
Identify people, machines, or skills that are idle part of the time or overloaded.
Average time to complete the full scoped process (units: minutes/hours/days).
Active processing time within the cycle (same units).
Number of items or customers waiting.
Percent of items that fail inspection or require rework. Enter as a number (0-100).
Direct customer feedback, complaints, or observed frustration tied to this scope.
What staff report, informal workarounds, safety concerns, or time-consuming tasks.
Short name for a potential improvement (example: Reduce duplicate data entry).
Write a short, testable hypothesis: 'If we X, then Y will improve by Z within T.'
Which metric you'll measure to evaluate the idea (e.g., lead time, defect rate, calls per order).
Person or role responsible for running the quick experiment.
Suggested experiment length (example: 2 weeks).
Rate how important/impactful this opportunity is for the scoped outcome.
1.0 10.0
Paste links to photos, logs, dashboards, or documents supporting your observations.
Record immediate next actions, stakeholders to engage, and any barriers to testing.
Choose Yes to make this audit visible to the team or continue privately.
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