What does the status quo cost you? Turning lost hours into francs

Inefficient workflows cost organisations more than they realise. You only see it once you turn the lost hours into francs. Here I show you how to do that yourself with four numbers and what to do with the result.

What does the status quo cost you?

Inefficient processes and missing tool skills create hidden costs through lost working hours. Nobody gets an invoice for them. That is why it pays to put a franc figure on those hours once. The result is not an exact number but an order of magnitude your team can talk about.

How to calculate it yourself

You need four numbers:

1. People: how many people does the workflow affect?
2. Hours lost per week and person: estimate honestly and on the low side. Ask two or three colleagues rather than estimating alone.
3. Working weeks per year: subtract holidays and public holidays.
4. Hourly cost: salary plus employer contributions, divided by annual working hours. Your payroll, HR or fiduciary knows the average. For orientation, the Swiss Federal Statistical Office publishes figures on wages and labour costs (in German).

The formula: people × hours per week × working weeks × hourly cost = cost per year.

As an example, picture a team of 10 people who each lose one hour a week. At 45 working weeks and an assumed hourly cost of CHF 60, that is 10 × 1 × 45 × 60 = CHF 27,000 a year. The numbers are made up, so plug in your own.

Where the hours usually leak away

In my experience it is rarely the big projects but the small repetitions. This list is a rule of thumb from practice, not a study:

• Meetings: too many, too long, no agenda. The meeting cost calculator (in German) shows the price of a single meeting, six remedies are in Reduce meeting overload.
• Email: messages are read several times but never decided. Help: four decisions, fixed rounds.
• Searching for files: everyone names files differently. Help: a file naming standard with four parts and organising information in SharePoint.
• Interruptions: getting back into the task costs every time. Help: the three-line note.
• Routine texts: summaries and drafts are typed by hand. Help: 5 tasks to delegate to Copilot.

Is it worth it? My assessment.

I cannot honestly promise you a percentage of what you will win back. That depends on your workflows. What I recommend: calculate before, measure after.

1. Pick one lever from the list above, not all of them at once.
2. Estimate the lost hours per week with the formula before you change anything.
3. Change the workflow consistently for four weeks.
4. Then estimate again with the same people and compare the two figures.

Anyone who asks «What does it cost us if we change nothing?» gets a figure you can talk about. If you want to go further step by step, the worksmart365 Academy (in German) covers communication, focus, meetings, email and AI.

Conclusion

Take ten minutes today, put your four numbers into the formula and pick a single lever. Give it a go now.