Principle 1:
Unit of Effort is the Building Block

Summary

Every application of the FLOW Framework begins by identifying the Unit of Effort – the smallest complete package of work, action, or learning that will be analyzed, routed, or optimized. It must be discrete, countable, and bounded.

 

Examples

• In procurement, a single purchase request (PR) is a unit of effort.

• In education, a homework assignment is a unit of effort.

• In crisis management, a response action (e.g., issuing an evacuation alert) is a unit of effort.

​

Quick Case Study

Scenario: A supply chain analyst is overwhelmed trying to classify monthly performance reports.

Solution: She switches to treating each vendor shipment as a Unit of Effort. This allows her to apply FLOW principles to identify routine deliveries as well as those with issues related to delay, communication, or more complex deliverables.

 

Common Mistakes

• Treating broad processes like “training” or “procurement” as a Unit of Effort (too vague)

• Confusing funnels or pipelines (ongoing) with Units of Effort (bounded packets)

• Not clearly defining the start and end conditions for a Unit of Effort.

 

Red Flag Indicators

• You cannot count how many units you are managing

• You find it difficult to assign FLOW levels because the object is too abstract

• Your unit of analysis changes halfway through the project

 

Key Diagnostic Questions

• Can I count the Units of Effort I’m dealing with?

• Can I define when this unit starts and ends?

• Could someone else use the same definition and reach the same count?

 

Local Application Prompts

• List 5 Units of Effort in your current workflow

• For each, write it’s start and end conditions

• Try classifying one using FLOW A-S without changing your unit

​

Alignment Risks

• Misalignment at the unit level causes confusion throughout routing, tracking, and optimization

• Teams using different definitions of the same Unit of Effort (e.g., one counts tasks, another counts projects)

​​

Systems Design Anchors

• Every dashboard, workflow, or report should start with defining the Unit of Effort

• Units should be traceable, auditable, and modular

• Larger systems should be decomposable into nested Units of Effort

​​

Role Implications

Leaders: Define and enforce Unit clarity across teams.

Analysts: Ensure all reporting aggregates align to a shared Unit.

Operators: Execute against clearly scoped Units to maintain FLOW integrity