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Standards

A Supervisor's Guide to Work Count

Every good supervisor always seeks to improve the work methods of his unit. The WORK SIMPLIFICATION PROGRAM is designed to furnish such supervisors with handy, clear blueprints of the present working methods of their own units. Analysis of the facts on these blueprints will help eliminate bottlenecks and lost effort and make supervisory work easier. WORK SIMPLIFICATION is a tested program for improving the method of doing work — finding a “better way” — doing a better job with less effort and in less time.

The Work Count

Third Step In Work Simplification

By showing you what work is done in your unit and who does it, the Work Distribution Chart shows you DIVISION OF WORK. In letting you see a step-by-step narrative of a process or activity, the Process Chart shows you SEQUENCE OF WORK. The Work Count completes the picture by showing you HOW MUCH is done and helps you SCHEDULE THE WORK of your unit.

What The Work Count Shows You

Counting or measuring work permits you to make improvements in office procedures, adjust work assignments, smooth out work loads and get rid of bottlenecks. It helps you quickly spot problems for further study—and shows at a glance where unequal work loads are.

But the big thing to remember about work counting is that it helps you SCHEDULE WORK. And by scheduling work you can put your office in BALANCE. Scheduling work and balancing your staff merely means assigning and distributing work fairly and efficiently.

Breaking The Dam

But in order to get this balance you must know HOW MUCH is being done. And when you know HOW MUCH the rest is easy. It is then merely a matter of looking at individual steps in a process and asking if they are in gear with other steps.

If they are not, then study ways to make adjustments by adding to or subtracting from the volume of work at those points. If applications pile up on the desk of a register clerk, for example, the file clerk and mail clerk who depend on the output of the register clerk do not have enough work on hand to keep them busy. The orderly flow of work through your unit is therefore dammed up on the register clerk’s desk. It is a problem of breaking that dam by making adjustments in the assignment and distribution of work.

Hints On Counting

We use the work count because work count facts shed light on the way work is done.

  • Any office activity or process has certain key points or steps. If applied at these places improvements will pay the biggest dividends. Your process chart will identify some of these by showing up places where work piles up awaiting decisive action. It also marks the places where the flow of work branches off of the main flow. Facts about volume passing these points enable you to see how important they really are and help you decide when “how much” is the basis of your trouble.
  • You will find that answers to many of the questions raised by your work distribution chart depend on knowledge of “how much.” Whether or not to specialize usually hinges on whether there is enough work to warrant it. Volume of work is part of the answer to every question about reassignment of work.
  • Here are some things to count: postings, inquiries, interviews, letters, phone calls, checks, vouchers, files pulled.
  • Here are some ways to count: tally, use of existing reports, recording meters, measuring, weighing, serially numbered forms, actual count.

Seven Ways To Use Work Count

The Work Count can help you with at least seven possible problems in your unit. You have seen now your process chart and your work distribution chart will give you clues to many of these areas. So study your charts carefully. Then measure these problems with your work count.

In looking for ways of improving your unit’s operation, remember that work count can help you:

1. To Schedule Work:

Every step in a process does not require the same amount of time, effort and skill. Ten applications, for example, may be checked for accuracy while one is being investigated and approved. By making a work count you can determine how long each step takes in relation to other steps. Then adjust your work assignments to fit ACTUAL CONDITIONS.

2. To Relate Tasks:

When your work distribution chart shows several employees with unrelated tasks, analyze and identify the tasks with a work count. See if you can combine them into a new job and relieve other employees.

3. To Measure The Value Of A Step:

Sometimes equal time and man-power are spent on a step which is relatively unimportant—or which produces few results. For example, you may be in doubt about the results produced by a DOUBLE review procedure. When you make a work count you will be able to see if the step is worthwhile.

4. To Divide Work:

You may be applying to ALL work a procedure which is required for only PART of the work! A work count may be used to identify the kind of action required by various types of work, segregate exceptions for special treatment.

5. To Spot Bottlenecks:

Long storage times on your process chart may mean a bottleneck! Count the number of units passing that point or count the back-log piled up on the desk. Then make adjustments to break the bottleneck.

6. To Demonstrate Personnel Needs:

When increased work volume threatens you with backlogs and bottlenecks use a work count. A work count helps you back your personnel estimates with facts and figures.

7. To Stimulate Interest:

Employees are interested in the accomplishments of their unit in relation to other units engaged in similar work. A work count showing a clear picture of your unit’s relative standing never fails to arouse interest.

How Counting Helps You Do A Better Job

How To Schedule Work:

BEFORE: Register Clerk had plenty of work, File Clerk had insufficient work. AFTER: Work was rescheduled by making filing a half-time job.

By measuring the number of days’ work on hand on various desks in a work process, a supervisor discovered that although the register clerk had plenty of work to do, a file clerk who was dependent on the register clerk’s output did not have enough work on hand. Once the supervisor knew the FACTS, the rest was easy. He rescheduled the work by making filing a half time job for this clerk and assigning him additional duties. The result was a BALANCED work flow that meant a better job with less effort and less time.

How To Relate Tasks Properly:

BEFORE: Multiple employees each handling filing, typing, and phone inquiries. AFTER: Tasks specialized into two distinct jobs, freeing one employee.

Study of his Work Distribution Chart showed the supervisor that the jobs of several employees were made up of badly related tasks. By classifying these tasks, he found that all employees were filing, typing and answering telephone inquiries. By applying a work count to determine the time and volume of each task, he found that he could divide these operations into two specialized jobs and relieve one employee to do other work.

How To Measure The Value Of A Step:

BEFORE:

  • Reviewer A: Found 12% errors
  • Reviewer B: Found only an additional 0.1% errors

AFTER:

  • Reviewer A (12%) remained
  • Reviewer B position eliminated

A supervisor thought it necessary as a safety device to keep a double check for accuracy on the review of cases. He thought it necessary, that is, until he measured the results! A work count showed him that Reviewer A found a percentage of errors of 12%, whereas Reviewer B, spending the same amount of time, turned up only an additional 0.1% of errors. With these FACTS before him the boss decided that double control did not pay. He took a calculated risk and freed Reviewer B for more worthwhile work.

With Less Effort And In Less Time

How To Divide Work: Identify Exceptions:

BEFORE: 100% of cases went to eligibility desk AFTER: Only 12% of cases (new cases) went to eligibility desk

Cases in a unit went to an “eligibility” desk where they were checked against a list. By classifying and identifying the various TYPES of cases a supervisor found that only new cases needed to go to the eligibility desk. He then applied a work count and discovered that of the cases handled in a test period 88% were renewals and required no checking. The procedure was changed and only the 12% new cases were routed to the eligibility desk, reducing the volume of checking at that point by 88%.

How To Divide Work: Show up over-specialization:

BEFORE:

  • A.M.: Incoming unit busy, Outgoing unit slow
  • P.M.: Incoming unit slow, Outgoing unit busy

AFTER:

  • Combined Incoming & Outgoing units, all day

A mail section consisted of incoming and outgoing units. By applying an hourly work count, a supervisor found that the peakload of the incoming unit occurred in the morning and almost corresponded to the peakload of the outgoing unit in the afternoon. As a result, peakloads were handled by combining units, doing away with both overloading and underemployment and releasing manpower for other work.

How To Divide Work: Show up over-specialization:

BEFORE:

  • Monday: Region 1, Region 2, Region 3 (separate reviewers)
  • Tuesday: Region 1, Region 2, Region 3 (separate reviewers)

AFTER:

  • Two reviewers handling all regions
  • Third reviewer freed for other work

Three reviewers in a Review Unit, handling the same type of cases but from different regions, had several slack days each week. By counting the output of the three reviewers on a daily basis the supervisor discovered that the number of cases received from the different regions varied widely from day to day. As a result, one reviewer would be overloaded on the same day that another had little to do. With these facts in mind the supervisor decided that specialization by region did not pay. Work was divided evenly between two reviewers and a third was freed for other office work.

How To Spot Bottlenecks:

BEFORE:

  • Mr. X handling “A” cases (bottleneck)
  • Mr. Y handling “B” cases
  • Mr. Z handling “C” cases AFTER:
  • Mr. X and Mr. Y handling “A” cases
  • Mr. Z handling both “B” & “C” cases

Study of process charts for a unit handling three different types of applications showed a long storage time at the desk of the analyst who handled “A” applications, but relatively short time for the two analysts who worked on applications “B” and “C.” The supervisor counted the work count and found that the volume of “A” applications at this point was almost twice as great as the other two. With the FACTS before him, the supervisor assigned two analysts to “A” applications and allowed the third analyst to handle both “B” and “C” applications, thus the bottleneck on “A” applications was broken.

How To Demonstrate Personnel Needs:

BEFORE: Section working at capacity, falling behind, increasing backlog AFTER: Additional staff added based on work count data

A section working at capacity was falling behind in its work. The backlog continued to increase. The supervisor armed himself with FACTS by counting the number of applications received and their relationship to the amount of the backlog. As a result both the NEED for additional staff and EXTENT of this need were demonstrated beyond argument.

How To Stimulate Interest By Showing How Much Is Done:

BEFORE: Teams unclear about relative performance AFTER: Performance metrics displayed, increased motivation and productivity

Two units in an accounting section were making the same kind of postings. By counting the work, and displaying the results, the supervisor showed clearly the relative standing of the two units. As a result interest was stimulated, team spirit aroused, and production increased. Don’t forget that work counts, interpreted in chart or pictorial form, can bring your unit’s operation to life — make work more interesting.

Getting Under Way

When you have completed your training in the Work Distribution and Process Charts and the Work Count — the three tools of Work Simplification — you are ready to begin an “on-the-spot” analysis of your own unit.

Here Are Hints To Remember When Getting Under Way:

Get Together With Your Employees:

Call them together for an informal meeting. Explain to them what Work Simplification is. Show them how the program can make work easier, get rid of bottlenecks, spread the workload, lift unnecessary and time-consuming tasks from their shoulders.

Explain to them that the program has the backing of this agency’s top management and all operating chiefs. If you have a memorandum or announcement of the program handy, read it to them. Remind them, too, that the program requires little time on their part. They will only have to fill out task lists and help you from time to time as you prepare data for process charts.

Make A Complete Analysis:

Remember that the Work Simplification Program is like a three-legged stool. You must complete all three legs (Work Distribution Chart, Process Chart and Work Count) before you have a finished product. You cannot take action until you have the WHOLE story. Study the three tools as a unit. Translate the “hunches” given you by the Work Distribution Chart into FACTS with the aid of the Work Count and Process Chart.

Write Up Proposals:

If you think you have found a better way to organize an activity or to simplify tasks, write them up as a proposal. Show both the “before” and “after” steps. You will usually contemplate changes of two types: (1) Those which you can install yourself without further consultation, or (2) Those which will require approval of your boss. In all cases, however, be sure to write them up, so that you have ALL the facts. Take advantage of the presence of your training instructor and his assistants. They are ready to help you.

First Things First:

Concentrate on problems which your analysis or observation make you think will produce results. Look for “pay dirt” projects, in other words. Do not try to install all your changes at the same time. Put in the most important ones and then make refinements in your operations. Remember, that haste makes waste. So be sure to have all the facts at hand. Then you are in a position to make recommendations and changes that will really mean work simplification for your unit.

By-products Of Work Simplification:

  • Your studies may show up hidden organizational problems.
  • Work Simplification makes everyone’s work easier.
  • Perhaps you can find ways of simplifying or eliminating certain reports and forms.
  • Remember that your finished charts are useful for training new employees.
  • Your finished charts can be used in checking to see that prescribed procedures are being followed.
  • Work Simplification makes your office a popular place.

Report Your Findings:

Your superior is interested in work simplification. He wants to know the results. When you have installed changes and made improvements report to him what you have accomplished. Include those changes which you may already have taken up with him. Make your report complete and accurate.

Follow Through:

Work Simplification is a continuing program. It is just as good for your unit six months or a year from now as it is today. So be sure to date and keep the materials you prepare. They are a record to which you can refer whenever further improvements are considered. Keep on the alert for times when you can apply the principles of Work Simplification to your unit. Changes in procedure, large turnovers in personnel, new programs all mean that the pattern of work in your unit has shifted. And whenever that happens, it is time for Work Simplification analysis.

This is a supervisor’s program. Therefore it is your program. No specialists will visit you to collect data; no outsider will study the efficiency of you or your employees; no flying squads will analyze your operation. This is your agency’s program conducted in the interests of better management. Supervisors can be the biggest factor in eliminating bottlenecks and delays, in simplifying and smoothing out rough spots. It is, therefore, an ideal opportunity for you to put across ideas in better methods you may already have.