Dubbelarbete

Dubbelarbete is a term used in Swedish to describe the duplication of effort in work processes, where similar or identical tasks are carried out more than once by different people, teams, or systems. It commonly occurs in administrative, production, and IT contexts when responsibilities are unclear, data is not centralized, or handoffs require re-entry of information.

Within organizations, dubbelarbete can manifest as duplicate data entry, parallel verification of the same results, or re-creating documents that already exist in another system. It can also occur across departments that do not share a common understanding of the workflow, data definitions, or ownership.

Causes include unclear accountability, siloed information, inefficient workflows, lack of single source of truth, and poor change management. The result is wasted time, higher costs, delayed decisions, and potential quality problems due to inconsistencies.

Mitigation strategies to reduce dubbelarbete include mapping the end-to-end process (value stream mapping), establishing a single source of truth for data, implementing standardized procedures, automating repetitive tasks where possible, integrating information systems, and promoting cross-functional collaboration and clear ownership. Regular process review and continuous improvement programs help identify and eliminate duplication.

Usage note: In some contexts, the term can also be used informally to refer to an individual holding two jobs or shifts, though this is less common in formal management discourse.