In honor of National Simplify Your Life Week, let’s talk about something that could probably use a little decluttering: your workplace.
Not the break room refrigerator. (Although…maybe that too.) Your processes.
Somewhere along the way, many organizations developed an impressive talent for turning simple tasks into Olympic events.
Need to order office supplies? Fill out Form A, which requires approval from Manager B. Manager B can’t approve it until Finance signs Form C, which references Procedure D, which links to Policy E—last updated when fax machines were still considered cutting-edge.
Three weeks later, someone finally gets a box of pens.
Nobody remembers why it became so complicated. Everyone just accepts, “That’s how we do it.”
It doesn’t have to be.
Complex processes can feel like evidence of serious work. If there are enough approvals, forms, and policies, the process must be important…right?
Usually, the opposite is true.
Unnecessary complexity slows decisions, increases mistakes, frustrates employees, and makes work harder than it needs to be. The impact is measurable. According to Asana’s Anatomy of Work Index, knowledge workers spend 53% of their workday on “work about work”—searching for information, chasing updates, coordinating tasks, and other administrative activities—leaving less than half their time for the work they were actually hired to do.
The people doing the work often recognize this immediately. Leaders sometimes don’t—not because they don’t care, but because they’ve lived with the process long enough that it feels normal. It’s like the office air conditioner that rattles all day. New employees hear it instantly. Everyone else stopped noticing months ago.
Good documentation is valuable. The key word is good. Adding another document isn’t always the answer. Eventually, employees need documentation just to find the documentation.
That may sound like an exaggeration, but it’s surprisingly common. Pryon and Unisphere Research found that 70% of enterprise employees spend at least an hour searching for the information they need, and nearly one in four spend more than five hours.
What people really want is one trusted place that’s:
Training can fall into the same trap. We keep adding content because we’re afraid to remove anything. Before long, a one-hour onboarding course turns into a four-hour marathon covering policies employees won’t need for another six months.
Information overload doesn’t produce confident employees. It produces exhausted ones.
Simplifying learning doesn’t lower standards. It respects how people actually learn: in manageable pieces, reinforced through practice, with information available when it’s needed.
When people feel overwhelmed, their brains start deciding what deserves attention. Important information competes with email notifications, meetings, instant messages, project deadlines, and approximately fourteen browser tabs they’ll “definitely read later.”
Meanwhile:
Eventually, people create shortcuts. Some are harmless. Others become the starting point for your next compliance issue.
One of the simplest questions an organization can ask is: “Have we designed this for the people who actually have to use it?”
User-centered design isn’t limited to software. It applies to documentation, training, knowledge bases, policies, approval workflows—anything another human being has to navigate.
That means:
Wondering whether a process has become too complicated? Ask yourself:
That last one should make everyone just a little nervous.
Organizations love adding things: new platforms, new dashboards, new AI tools. Those investments can absolutely create value.
Sometimes, though, the biggest productivity gains come from removing something instead.
Those improvements rarely make headlines, but they make work noticeably easier—and employees noticeably happier.
At MATC, we help organizations simplify the way work gets done. Whether we’re improving documentation, designing learning experiences, organizing knowledge, or applying AI to support better decisions, the goal is always the same: reduce friction so employees can work with greater confidence.
Because people shouldn’t need detective skills to complete everyday work.
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“Productivity Statistics for 2026.” Asana. March 2026. Accessed 7/28/26. https://www.asianefficiency.com/productivity-statistics-2026
“Why Workers Waste Hours Searching for Information — And What You Can Do About It.” Pyron. 3/5/24. Accessed 7/28/26. https://www.pryon.com/resource/why-workers-waste-hours-searching-for-information