Reviewing Current Shared Operating Procedures
In planning work-study, think through the kinds of work, i.e.; the series of actions each person takes when performing the task.
This may involve observation and interviews for an accurate understanding of what is involved in each operating procedure. For example if your business in not the mass production of parts down an assembly line, what kinds of tasks constitute 80 percent of work on any given day? How many people are involved in shared or interconnected task performances?
Seek examples, write them down and estimate the average time an employee spends moving through each process. It will not be definitive, but it will be revealing to compare estimates and assumptions about where the time goes when reviewing the actual tasks for a specific measurement.
Consider recording every process engaged during the day. Including breaks, meetings, project/process work and lunch.
- How frequently do workers ask supervisors or peers questions?
- How long is the wait-time while data is pulled up or a computer is refreshed?
- How often and how many phone calls or inquiries are coming from others?
Determine which information to gather related to the actual work tasks such as:
- Sources of work
- Numbers of defect occurrences for incoming work
- Workflow during different times of the day, week or month
- Inaccurate or incomplete work
Identifying Workload Drivers
The work-study team or individuals, should consider how detailed they need to be with data generation and recording of information. Should you measure how much time it takes to complete a spreadsheet of adjustments from a client – or should the job be broken down into task units, and the drivers that motivate the task?
In making this choice, consider the “unit” of work – the lowest common-denominator task engaged by the workers being studied. For example, all maintenance transactions might be performed in individual units. These kinds of tasks all take about the same amount of time. The only unique factor is frequency – relative to each other – and what drivers affect the volume of the workload determining how long this task will take.
Remember, the work-study is not intended to capture every single employee interaction or task. It is initially needed to comprehend the top percentages – from 70 to 90 percent of tasks, which will provide a representative sample.
Creating Lists of Every Activity Performed
This of course needs to be done across various job functions. Most work-study processes are subject to variations in volume resulting from seasonal factors. These are predictable within limits.
Consider for example a manufacturer of upholstered furniture: these manufacturers usually have an influx of orders in the Fall before the holiday season at the end of the year. It comes again in March and April, and then work tasks fall off over the summer.
Decide in advance when to conduct the work-study. Prepare by listing all of the activities and tasks needed to be considered for review. If it is during light season, people may have more time on their hands. Results would show this emphasis of non-work time.
If it is a during pre-holiday season, associates will be under pressure to get the work out. Many will be putting in overtime in order to avoid backlogs. It may be best for you to conduct the work studies during both periods, making an average of the results.
Collect Data Using a Reliable Work Measurement Tool
Use good task sampling procedures for reliable results. The most effective work measurement processes include time performance measurement procedures such as MODAPTS®. The fastest growing and easiest to use PDTS in the world today.