Ergonomics (the science and study of how humans are influenced and how they perform in relation to their work environment) encompass principles and methods to improve work motivation, focus on the job to be done and the work flow itself, as a means to achieve the required efficiency and the desired productivity.
So how can productivity be achieved if efficiency is low?
Anastasia Marinopoulou, Visiting Lecturer at The University of Law Business School helps us to understand more.
According to the concept of Ergonomics, efficiency can be improved with simple interventions if business owners, managers and employees start looking at the ‘immediate workspace’ as a means to understand how the work flows, and how work can be facilitated.
Indeed, Ergonomics as a concept is closely related to the nature of the work and its implementation starts by defining what needs to be produced (whether a physical product or a service) and how this can be done efficiently or in other words, without ‘waste’ at a specific physical or virtual workspace.
In operational terms, ‘waste’ is anything that does not add value to your working time and effort such as (to name a few):
- producing more products, ideas, signatures, meetings, etc than needed (consuming time, effort and energy in its broader sense)
- producing multiple versions of a product or service because of being uncertain what is liked or required (consuming resources and zest)
- waiting for materials (either because they are not available or because they are not in a condition to be used when needed)
- waiting for guidelines, confirmations or even for the motivation to finish and sign off the project, even
- making mistakes because of being in a hurry to finish a job that is left behind or because of being absent-minded or obstructed or in pain because the work station/desk is not in the right position or/and condition
In an increasingly digitalized era, the concept of ‘waste’ is applicable in situations where the interface is not user friendly, when the application embedded does not align with the workflow or the business process and of course when concentration and the speed and quality of work are impacted by light (or its absence), noise and work overload stress.
The solution is simple: understand what needs to be done, study what is being done and improve!
- Having the target in mind, map or take a video (asking for permission or license if required) of how the work is done or in the case of working from home ask your collaborators to map the way they work
- Looking at the process, study (ideally as a team) the various stages, noting your observations regarding ambient conditions, workflow sequence, information processing, access and motivation
- Having recorded your observations, discuss why the work is being structured / performed this way without criticizing the opinions given
- Taking into consideration the people that do the job, ask for immediate workspace improvement suggestions that are not expensive and that improve the ability to do the job better (studying and following guidelines especially as there is a lot of information on workspace improvements)
- Accepting the fact that processes can most of the times become simpler, ask for ideas on workflow improvements
- Ensure all agree with the solutions decided and
- Last but not least, check if what was decided and implemented, actually works and ensure that this new way of working is followed!
You may find that sustaining a new workflow or a new way to do the job (even if it involves a new sitting position) might be more difficult than introducing it; but this is a topic for another article.
