Cut costs or rethink how work gets done?

Costs are rising, investment decisions are being examined more carefully, and many teams are expected to deliver the same work with fewer resources. In situations like this, the first response is often to cut costs, and sometimes that is the right decision.

A cost cut reduces spending but does not necessarily change how the work is done. If work waits for approval, is repeated or depends on a few people, the same workload may simply fall on fewer shoulders. The more useful question is which costs to reduce and which parts of the work to improve.

A practical rule is to reduce spending that supports work the company no longer needs, and review the way work is done when time and effort are being lost.

Improving the way work is done means looking at each step: who does it, in what order, with what information and who makes the decisions along the way.

Why does this question matter now?

The cost of a poor working process is not always visible in a budget. A cut can be approved quickly and appear in the next report, but a budget rarely shows the time spent waiting for approval or entering the same information twice. When a team gets smaller, the same lost hours have to be absorbed by fewer people.

For a CFO, the practical risk is that a saving recorded this year may return as extra workload, delays or rework elsewhere. By then, the link to the original decision may be difficult to see.

What is the difference between cutting costs and improving how work is done?

Cost reduction changes how much the company spends. Improving the way work is done changes how much time and effort a task requires. The two approaches answer different questions and can be used together.

Use this comparison alongside your cost list. If an expense supports no work the company currently needs, reducing it may be straightforward. If the work still depends on the people or tools behind that expense, review the work before making a decision.

Where can time and money be lost in daily work?

Look at five areas. In each one, cutting a budget line alone may leave the underlying issue unchanged.

1. Steps that add little value. Some steps produce an output that nobody can explain how they use, yet they still take time. Removing resources without reviewing the step may simply transfer the task to someone else. Ask the people who do the work which step they would remove first, and what would happen if they did.
2. Repeated work. The same information may be entered or checked more than once, sometimes by different teams. Each repetition takes time, and mismatched records create more work later. Between a customer's first enquiry and the invoice, how many times is the same information entered?
3. Waiting. Work may stop while someone waits for information, approval or another person. This cost is easy to overlook because nobody appears to be doing anything wrong. Meanwhile, other tasks that depend on the delayed work may also stop.
4. Decisions that take too long. Under cost pressure, senior managers may become involved in more decisions. When too many decisions wait for a small number of people, work slows down. A simple written agreement about who can decide what, and when escalation is needed, can help work move forward without unnecessary delays.
5. Work that depends on a few people or is done differently by everyone. Important knowledge may sit with just one or two people, so the process slows when they are unavailable. A role that looks expensive on paper may be essential to keeping the work going. When everyone follows a different method, errors are also harder to spot. Agree on who is responsible for critical tasks and what a properly completed task looks like. Before removing a role, list the work that only that person can currently do.

What can go wrong with across-the-board cost cuts?

An across-the-board cut applies the same reduction to different areas before the company has examined how the work is done. It reduces available resources while leaving the steps, approvals and workload unchanged.

The immediate effect is clear: the same work falls on fewer people. Waiting and repeated tasks then take up a larger share of each person's time.

Another risk is harder to see in advance. A cut may remove something the work relies on, such as the person who understands how a process operates or a tool the team uses every day.

Sometimes a budget target is fixed and spending must be reduced. In that case, improve the way the work is done alongside the cuts to limit the additional pressure on the people who remain.

What does a better approach look like?

Review the work before finalising the cuts. Then decide deliberately which expenses to reduce and which parts of the work to improve.

Start with one process that takes more time or effort than it should. Find where it waits for information or a decision. Remove steps that are no longer needed, combine checks that repeat the same work and clarify who can make each decision. Consider technology when the process is clear and a tool can genuinely remove work or make it easier.

A change is not complete simply because a new process has been documented. It needs to work in daily practice, so allow time to see whether people have adopted it.

If you are unsure which process to review first, use the five questions in our article “Working better with fewer resources: where to start.”

How can you tell whether the change has helped?

Before making a change, record how long the process takes and how often work has to be corrected or repeated. After the new approach has been used for a while, check the same measures again. This gives you a practical comparison to use in future planning and budget discussions.

What can you do this week?

1. Next to each planned cost reduction, write down which work it affects and who will take responsibility for that work afterwards.
2. Mark expenses that no longer support work the company needs. These may be the clearest candidates for reduction.
3. In the process that takes the most effort, identify where work waits longest and list the approvals it depends on.
4. Record how long the process takes today so you have a baseline for comparison.
5. Divide the list into two groups: costs that can be reduced now and work that should be improved before further cuts are made in that area.

How does Viaworks approach this?

Viaworks helps companies understand and improve the way their work gets done. We are a business design and transformation company. When it comes to costs, we look at the work behind the numbers before recommending changes.

Our work has three steps. First, we understand how work actually happens and identify where time and money are being lost (ViaLabs). Then, we design and build improvements with your team: clearer steps, responsibilities, decision rules and software only where it is genuinely useful (ViaBuild). Finally, we help the new approach become part of daily work (ViaShift).

If you are weighing cost reductions against changes to the way work is done, we would be happy to talk. You can find our contact details at viaworks.co and learn more about our approach on the “How we work” page.

Frequently asked questions

Is cutting costs the wrong response when budgets are under pressure?

No. Reducing spending that supports work the company no longer needs can be sensible. The risk comes from cutting costs without reviewing the work, leaving the same steps and delays for fewer people to handle.

What is the difference between cost reduction and efficiency?

Cost reduction lowers spending. Efficiency means the work takes less time and effort to complete. Improving how work is done can help savings last, although the result depends on the changes made and how well they are used.

What does improving a process mean in practice?

It means reviewing the steps, information and decisions involved in a task, then changing the parts that cause unnecessary repetition, waiting or confusion. Technology is useful when it helps remove work or makes a necessary step easier.

Can we reduce costs and improve the way work is done at the same time?

Yes. If a planned cut would put extra pressure on an already stretched process, review and improve that process before finalising the cut. Other expenses may be reduced immediately where the work no longer needs them.