Definitions will vary. It is important to bring clarity to your team and organization.
Work Observations: Deeply studying the work as it is happening similar to an anthropologist. The objective is to deeply understand every detail including the environment, differences over time, differences between people, tools used, steps taken, tricks of the trade, time required, and other nuances.
Time Studies: Once standards for performance have progressed to level 3 (how-to procedures), then time studies can be used to validate the steps in the standard procedure including how long each step takes and what the variability ranges are for both the procedural steps and expected outcomes (level 2). Time studies allow your standards to progress to level 4, where variability ranges are defined along with escalation triggers.
The Math of Using Time Studies
Time studies are most valuable for high-frequency tasks, including select field installation tasks. As a general guideline, if a specific task costs less than $250K per year, the higher-level management effort required to conduct time studies, refine standards, and ensure their adoption across everyone performing the task may not yield a strong return on investment.
There are three exceptions to that general rule:
- You are using a relatively straight forward task to train someone on how to do a work observation, develop a standard, then do time studies against that standard. If you are investing in someone with the right aptitudes and desires for higher-level management roles over the next 3-5 years, this will have a great return.
- The task is distributed across 5+ people, there is a wide variation in the performance of the task from the fastest to the slowest, and the performance of the task can't be consolidated down to fewer people performing it by changing workflows and job roles.
- Given your growth trajectory, you expect the task will exceed that $250K threshold within the next 3 years or less.
Prerequisites: If you don't have a clear written procedure, such as what was described in Training Within Industry / Job Instruction, you aren't yet ready for a time study.
The basic math on the $250K is that you will likely only improve overall performance by an average of 20% based on the time study and resulting improvements. The time study itself with drive adoption of the standard how-to procedure (level 3). That results in a $50K savings, but the cost is also high due to the time spent by a higher-level manager and alternate uses of their time. This is like any other prioritization math.
Note: Be cautious if you hear yourself or others rationalizing away being "too busy" or having other "higher priorities." Sometimes this is 100% true, but most of the time the excess busyness is largely a result of poor process execution requiring excessive rework and management interventions.
Learning Resources (The Basics)
You will have to develop your own standards and tools for doing work observations and time studies. The three videos below are a great starting point. Doing some additional web searches will help you identify some template ideas that will be helpful. Remember to start simple - the best system is the one that you will use regularly, and that starts with simplicity.
- Work Observation & Time Study Examples (15 min): Great examples of trigger points, tools, and doing a work observation to deeply understand.
- Time & Motion Studies (10 min): More details related to above to reinforce.
- Time Studies in Construction (2 min): Jason Schroeder and Petticoat Schmitt show how work observations and time studies can occur in the field using video as one of the tools.
Some related lean terminology for improvement
- Gemba (Where the Work Happens)
- Kaizen (Seeing the Details)
- Wastes (Identification and Categorization)
- Value Add (And Non-Value Add)
- Ohno Circles (Where Observation Happens)
These tools are only valuable if used as part of an overall management system. Applying them randomly will rarely result in the intended outcomes and may even result in worse morale and/or productivity.
Please contact us at any time and we will share freely our experiences for use of these tools based on your vision and your team.
