Chinese lantern aka Chinese Gooseberry.
What kind of work
are You (and your people) Doing?
David
J (Joe) Armstrong
There are dozens if not hundreds of articles, posts and
tools published related
to better time management. One thing in common with the
vast majority of these
is that they almost all focus on steps YOU, the
individual, can take to better manage your time.
I’m going to take an alternate approach – one that
suggests that the use of your time
is dictated by outside forces and that to better manage
your time,
you must understand the nature of work being done and how
it directs your time.
A great training I experienced came from
Conway Management on
the nature of work.
In the Conway model, there are four major types of work:
1. Value
Added Work
2. Necessary
Work (Non-value added)
3. Unnecessary
Work (Rework and all-other work)
4. Not
Working (Approved (breaks or lunch) or not approved.
3. REWORK
Studies have shown that, in many organizations, non-value
added work, either rework
or work no one uses, accounts for a substantial amount of
time and effort expended.
A key to this is the definition of rework: “Having to do something
because it was not done correctly or completely in the first
place”.
Personally, the definition was a revelation to me. We
grow accustomed to resolving problems
and addressing issues. That process tends to become
engrained and normal. I discovered that
with this newfound knowledge of the definition, every
time one of these situations occurred,
I had a voice going off in my head screaming, “REWORK,
REWORK”. Yes, I resolved the issue
but also took steps to understand the root cause and
correct it whether it was poor process design, training or even empowerment of
others to address things as they occurred and not escalate them. As a result,
my own work became more productive
as I was able to put more focus on value-added work.
STUDY THE WORK
To understand what is going on, do a random sample of
work. I’ve done this for myself
and with large workgroups such as 24/7 warehouse
operation with about 30 associates
(all of whom willingly participated in the data
collection).
Do this for a week and you will have a very good idea of
the work being done
and areas that you may be able to impact by eliminating
the root cause of non-value added work
so that the resources are available for value-added work.
For example, in the warehouse, we collected almost 4,000
data points and identified
about 16% of them as non-value added work in three
categories:
incomplete information warehouse pick documents, waiting
for resources and excess travel.
Armed with our study results, IT corrected the data issue
within days,
we addressed the resource issue in a few weeks and the
excess travel was reduced by
accelerating a warehouse layout project already underway.
WHAT YOU NEED
Obviously, the commitment to do the study is necessary.
A random timer. I got my first one from Conway. Now, if
you have an iPhone, the app,
Mind Jogger, available
through iTunes apps is an appropriate, low-cost substitute.
Data Recording sheet. You can make your own with the
types of work listed on one dimension
with lines to list the actual work being done under each
category. (You will not need too many lines. Chances are you will find that the
same type of work gets repeated). On the other dimension
you will simply record the time. At the intersection of
the time and the type of work,
you will place an X. At the end of each day and at the
end of the week, summarize your sheets.
You will have a good feel for the work being done and
your opportunities
GROUP PARTICIPATION
To do the study with a group, I suggest the following:
Discuss the purpose of the study
(to identify unnecessary work activities so that they can
be reduced or eliminated).
Discuss the various types of work.
Chances are the people in the group can give you great
examples for each type.
Whenever the timer sounds the alarm, ask the group
members to record the time
and what they were doing in the appropriate category on
the form.
Collect the forms daily and tally the results.
Do for a week and summarize to get a good idea of the
work that is being done
and areas for improvement.
If you use the Mind Jogger app, choose RANDOM,
set you start and stop times and set the number of times
at 20 per eight-hour period.
When I use this in a production environment such as a
warehouse, we have a supervisor
use the timer or app. When an alarm goes off, they use
the intercom to ask for time reports.
It worked great.
That’s all there is to it.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-kind-work-you-your-people-doing-david-j-joe-armstrong
You can TCR music, poetry or self development material for internal knowing.
I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times
faster and remember what I’ve read.
I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
All aspects of regular, each-word down-each-line
reading and education.
Turbo Charged Reading uses these skills
significantly faster
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com gives
many ways for you to work with the stresses of life
www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com just for fun.
To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more
things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll
go.”
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