As a pilot I am often struck by the workload of controllers when they are doing exactly this. I sit there waiting for taxi with a pretty small mental picture of what needs to occur to keep my aircraft safe and marvel at the size of the mental picture the controller is developing and maintaining. The tug driver making a hash of his request for tow at one end of the field, the A320 confirming landing clearance at 300ft ( probably tired due time of day), the Dash requesting taxi half way through the transmission from the China 340 that's just joined a long final and the 737 wanting to read back his digital departure routing clearance.
The controllers do a good job but we ask a lot of them at these times of the day when they would normally be asleep. Have we ( AviatIon Industry) started asking too much of our people in the name of 'lean operations' ?