The Invisible Work Slowing Councils Down
If you work in a council, you already know this:
Your real job and the job you actually spend your day doing are often two very different things.
There’s the work you’re meant to be doing — delivering services, supporting your community, improving processes, keeping things running smoothly.
And then there’s the work that quietly sneaks in, piles up, and somehow eats half your day before morning tea.
We call it the hidden workload.
The admin you don’t plan for.
The process work no one notices.
The tasks that slip between the cracks but still demand attention.
It’s the work that keeps councils running… but also keeps teams overloaded.
And if you’re feeling stretched, it’s probably not because your council is doing more — it’s because your processes are asking too much of your people.
The new definition of “good”
For years, “good” in council operations meant simply staying afloat.
Audits passed (eventually). Approvals done (somehow). SOPs updated (when someone had time).
But modern council teams are setting a higher bar – and a more human one.
Today, “good” looks like:
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Processes that are easy to follow
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Workflows that don’t depend on who’s on leave
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SOPs that aren’t buried in a maze of folders
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Approvals that don’t live in Outlook
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Audits that don’t spark collective dread
This isn’t about being perfect.
It’s about creating teams that can work with confidence, clarity, and just a little less chaos.
And it starts with the way councils run their processes.
Where the hidden workload hides
The tricky thing?
Most of this workload is invisible until it becomes overwhelming.
It’s death by a thousand admin cuts.
1. The email chain approval loop
You know this one.
It starts with a simple request: “Can you approve this?”
Then one person replies.
Another person doesn’t.
Someone else forwards it with a comment that makes perfect sense to them but no one else.
Before you know it:
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The wrong version’s been approved
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Two people think someone else is doing the next step
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And you’re scrolling through a three-week-long email thread thinking, “Surely there’s a better way.”
These are the minutes that quietly turn into hours — the kind of admin no one budgets for, but everyone feels.
2. The “updated” SOP that lives in four different places
There’s nothing more dangerous than the sentence:
“We should really update that SOP.”
Because suddenly:
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Three people have different drafts
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Another person adds steps that no one actually does
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And the team is left asking, “Which version are we supposed to use?”
SOP upkeep shouldn’t feel like group therapy.
But when documentation lives in Word docs, long email chains, or someone’s head… it does.
This is the hidden workload councils rarely quantify: the hours spent rewriting processes instead of improving them.
3. The shared-drive treasure hunt
Somewhere, in some folder, in a location only one person seems able to remember, lies the document you desperately need.
It could be:
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Under Operations > 2021 > Final > Final-Final
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In someone’s personal drive
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Or in a folder called “New” that actually contains files from 2017
The treasure hunt isn’t just frustrating – it’s expensive.
Every minute spent searching is a minute not spent doing work that matters.
Multiply that across a whole team for a whole year?
That’s your hidden workload, right there.
4. The audit prep sprint
You know that feeling when an audit is coming?
Suddenly everyone is:
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Checking versions
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Searching inboxes
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Screenshotting evidence
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Asking, “Do we have documentation for this?”
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And discovering processes that haven’t been updated since the last restructure
Audit prep is one of the biggest hidden workloads in councils – because the work isn’t just the audit itself.
It’s the rework required to prove what you already do.
Which is why teams like Waipā DC now use Flowingly as their Building Control “bible” – a single place where every process is already mapped, tracked, and audit-ready.
5. The “can you just…?” micro-tasks
This one is the quietest – and quite possibly the most dangerous.
“Can you just check this?”
“Can you just resend that?”
“Can you just approve this real quick?”
“Can you just tell me where the latest version is?”
Individually, these tasks take seconds.
But the interruption cost? Massive.
Every “just” pulls someone out of focus.
The hidden workload isn’t the task itself – it’s the switch away from what they were doing, and the time it takes to get back into it.
Do this 10, 20, 30 times a day?
That’s where whole hours disappear.
The impact: it’s not just about productivity
Hidden workload doesn’t make headlines.
But it makes staff tired.
It creates:
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inconsistency
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rework
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delays
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confusion
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and frustration
Most council teams aren’t underperforming. They’re overburdened by process friction that shouldn’t exist anymore.
Imagine how much more councils could achieve if time wasn’t being stolen by the invisible work between the work.
When councils decide “work doesn’t need to be this hard
Most councils aren’t waiting for a transformation programme or a new financial year to fix the hidden workload problem.
They’re doing something far simpler – and far smarter.
They’ve stopped accepting the admin grind as “just how council work is.”
There’s a quiet shift happening across teams.
A moment where someone finally says:
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“Why do we email this approval every time?”
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“Why is this SOP so hard to follow?”
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“Why can’t we see the whole process in one place?”
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“Why does this take three days when it should take 30 seconds?”
And instead of shrugging and moving on, teams are starting to answer those questions.
They’re choosing clarity over clutter. Consistency over guesswork. Workflows over inboxes. Shared knowledge over heroic institutional memory.
Not because someone told them to.
But because the old way is exhausting.
And because the hidden workload isn’t just inefficient – it’s unsustainable.
Here’s what this shift looks like in the real world:
1. Teams are mapping messy processes so everyone finally understands them.
Not beautifully. Not perfectly.
Just honestly.
The first step toward fixing hidden workload is simply seeing it.
2. Leaders are asking “How do we make this easier?” instead of “Who dropped the ball?”
Blame-free conversations are becoming the norm.
The problem isn’t people – it’s process friction.
3. Staff are speaking up when a workflow doesn’t make sense.
Because they’ve learned that improvements don’t need to be giant projects.
They can be small nudges that reduce pain immediately.
4. Councils are ditching tools that slow them down and choosing ones that actually help.
Not even necessarily flashier.
Just friendlier.
Systems that reduce workload instead of adding to it.
5. And perhaps the biggest shift of all: councils are making time to improve, even when they’re busy.
Especially when they’re busy.
The hidden workload shrinks every time a team chooses clarity over confusion, automation over admin, or transparency over tribal knowledge.
It’s not one big change – it’s a hundred tiny ones.
And together, they make the day feel lighter.
For everyone.
What happens when the hidden workload disappears?
Suddenly, work feels:
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calmer
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clearer
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smoother
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more consistent
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and far less stressful
Teams have time for the work that matters.
Managers have visibility they can trust.
New staff get up to speed faster.
Audits feel… manageable.
The hidden workload may be invisible –
but the relief when it’s gone is unmistakable.
**Because councils will always be busy.
But your processes don’t have to make it harder.**
If you want to see how councils are reducing admin, simplifying audits, and giving time back to their teams, Flowingly is here to help – without the jargon and without the drama.
The hidden workload may be invisible –
but the relief when it’s gone is unmistakable.