Passage Technology Blog | Salesforce Partner, AppExchange Developer

Uncovering the Hidden Costs of Unnecessary Tasks & Team Inefficiencies

Written by Carrie Brown | Dec 08, 2025

 Is your team is feeling overwhelmed? 

 

Have you heard of hidden inefficiencies? It’s a common problem that many organizations are facing. If your team is feeling overwhelmed and like they don’t have enough time, this could be a sign that you need to examine your processes and how your organization is sharing information.

“There’s a good chance they’re drowning in unnecessary activities and inefficiencies that prevent them from focusing on the real work that drives real results,” explains the Forbes article, “Drowning In Unnecessary Work? Here’s Your Life Preserver.”

The Forbes article said that the research firm IDC found inefficiency can cost organizations 20% to 30% of their revenue each year. A common inefficiency is when someone needs to spend extra time tracking down information buried in Slack, email or a Salesforce case, before they can begin to make progress with their work. “Suddenly, what should have taken a few seconds is taking five, ten, maybe even 15 minutes. Perhaps you can’t find the information at all. So then you have to pull in someone else to look for it. Now their time is being wasted, too,” explains Nick Sonnenberg, founder and CEO of Leverage, an operational efficiency organization.

What are the hidden costs of unnecessary tasks?

The biggest red flags to watch for are an overall lack of efficiency in the organization and signs of employee frustration. To find out if this could be happening at your organization, watch for these red flags:

  • Employee burnout: Inefficient processes can lead to employee stress that can increase employee turnover.
  • Issues with decision-making: Unclear data can be a sign of inefficiency, which can negatively impact business decisions.
  • Slower growth: Inefficient, outdated, or duplicate processes can slow operations, leading to higher costs.
  • Fewer opportunities: Time-consuming tasks can negatively impact sales and customer experience.
  • Decreased productivity: Roadblocks due to team members spending too much time digging for information and status updates.
  • Less time for innovation: When employees are bogged down by unnecessary tasks, they don’t have time to think of innovative ideas.

Is the solution to implement new tools and processes?

It’s important to evaluate new tools before you implement them. Sonnenberg adds, “Tool overwhelm is a huge problem, so it’s important to think carefully before adding a new tool to your tech stack.”

To find out if the tool you’re considering will work for your organization, he recommends asking questions like: Why do we want to implement this? How will it benefit us? What goals will it help us reach?

When you use a tool that helps you remove inefficiencies and streamline processes, it can help increase productivity, as well as improve employee morale. Eliminating obstacles allows businesses to streamline workflows, while creating a more positive work environment and empowering employees to reach goals. For example, our Work Trail app helps organizations stay aligned on where information should be stored. The app brings the notes and tasks front and center, allowing users to quickly identify a record's to-dos, status, or roadblocks. With Work Trail, everyone will be able to spend less time digging for information and status updates, and more time accomplishing tasks. 

How does Work Trail help teams work together?

Work Trail provides a seamless interface for teams to collaborate and stay on the right path. It can enhance project management processes and strengthen team collaboration. As a record moves along its lifecycle, team members can display task sets and see which tasks have been completed, preventing duplicate work. The app empowers teams to:

  • Bring Action Items & Status Updates to the Forefront: Work Trail brings notes and tasks front and center. Users can quickly identify a record's to-dos, status, or roadblocks. Easily view what has already been completed by coworkers.
  • Remove Roadblocks and Increase Productivity: Log notes to keep track of work that’s been performed, or roadblocks encountered.
  • Keep Your Team on the Right Path: Create notes with different types, statuses, and background colors. Easily view notes for related records. Customize which tasks to display for different types of records.

Work Trail is designed for any Salesforce user or team, whether it's sales, customer support, marketing, or any other role. To learn more, go to the Work Trail Overview page on Passage Technology's website.