Job shadowing: sit with someone to map their tasks

Key takeaways

Job shadowing to map tasks means sitting with someone for half a day while they work, noting every task, what triggered it, which systems they used and how long it took. It finds the quick, automatic tasks that records and interviews miss: the two-minute lookups, the workarounds and the corrections. Use it for the roles with the most suspected admin.

• Shadow for half a day, ideally on a typical busy day.
• Note task, trigger, system and minutes for everything.
• Ask 'why?' after, not during, the work.
• Best for finding workarounds and quick repeat tasks.

What does shadowing find that other methods miss?

Shadowing catches what people do without thinking. Ask a coordinator about their day and they mention orders and calls; watch them and you see them copy an address from email to the shop system, check a spreadsheet, fix a postcode, and do it again forty times. Those small, automatic tasks are often the most outsourceable.

• How to identify tasks suitable for outsourcing
• Invisible work: the tasks nobody lists but someone does

How do you shadow someone well?

Treat it as learning about the work, not judging the person.

• 1. Explain the purpose: to find work that could move off their plate.
• 2. Pick a typical day, not a quiet one.
• 3. Note each task: trigger, steps, systems, minutes.
• 4. Save questions for breaks or the end.
• 5. Review the notes together and add tasks to the long list.

• A day-in-the-life review of one role
• A 30-minute interview that finds tasks to hand over

What are the limits of shadowing?

Half a day shows daily tasks, not weekly or monthly ones, and people work differently when watched. It also takes a manager's time. Use shadowing for two or three roles where admin is heaviest, and rely on records, such as diaries and system logs, for the less frequent tasks.

• Where to look for tasks you could outsource
• Use your software data to find manual work

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: half a day shadowing an accounts assistant records far more distinct tasks than their own list. Several never appeared on it, including re-keying remittance details and checking supplier bank changes by phone. The re-keying is a strong candidate; the bank check stays inside as a control.

• See client work
• BPO Solutions for UK businesses

Job shadowing checklist

• Explain the purpose before you start.
• Pick a typical busy half day.
• Note task, trigger, system and minutes.
• Ask questions after, not during.
• Review the notes together.

• Baseline a task before you move it
• A day-in-the-life review of one role

Next step

Choose the role where you suspect most hidden admin and book a half-day shadow this week. Agree the purpose with the person first.