Methods of Work Improvement and Organizational Structure

Posted on Aug 31, 2024 in Other subjects

Steps to Follow to Improve Methods of Work

1. Isolate the Cause

Isolate the cause of experimental work aimed to study independently and preserve everything that is satisfactory in the current system without changing what is not satisfactory.

2. Determine a New Procedure

Devise a new method that is most practical, economical, and effective, taking into account all possible consequences. To this end, use a series of techniques based on the registration and examination of the tasks and objects of observation.

3. Utilize Common Techniques

Two of the most used techniques are:

Process Sheets: The most basic technique. It involves biographical data of direct observation of work or study purposes. Each task performed in a process is stated in a document.
Process Diagrams: Graphic systems using pre-defined symbols to observe the activities involved in a work process.

Analysis and Measurement of Elements in Decomposing Activity

The objective of measuring the effort, which includes labor and time spent for the activity, is to achieve an increase in employee performance. It accounts for the actions carried out.

a) Methods of Measurement of Time

Timekeeping: Used to plan work, providing standard times. Timings for timekeeping will have to obtain the following data in the following order:

Time-Timed: Once the activity is split into elementary operations, time the time spent on each.
Activity: Normal performance of an average worker at a normal pace.
Weather Resulting: Obtained by multiplying the measured time for the activity and divided by 100.
Normal Time: The arithmetic mean of the resulting time.
Supplement: The time added to the normal time because the worker has personal needs (5% in men and 7% in women), fatigue (4%), and 10%.

b) Methods Based on Ergonomics

Ergonomics aims for the physical adaptation of work to man, i.e., temperature, lighting, space, training, etc. Its purpose is to improve the quality of life of workers, and as a result, improve yields and productivity.

The tasks from the point of view of ergonomics are classified as:

Fatigue: Tasks that require physical effort and muscle. Ergonomics seeks to eliminate some of the efforts by machines and equipment (e.g., industrial trucks).
Motrices: Represent a static effort. These tasks require control by the central nervous system, requiring reflexes, precision, and speed. Ergonomics use modern means and materials to improve and facilitate the task, such as furniture.
Mental: Involve mental effort (vision, hearing). These correspond to decision-making tasks and high responsibility, such as a Purchasing Manager.

c) Methods Based on Experience

This method is not quantifiable and is based on the expertise of professionals, from the liable as operators.

Implementation of an Improved Method of Working

The order must be made by the following steps:

Comparison of New with the Old System: Analyze and compare the advantages and disadvantages of implementing the new system.
Notice to Staff: A fundamental aspect as a whole is no good theoretical procedure if workers are not informed of the new system work.
Process Control: Choose the techniques that are more effective and foresee the consequences that the implementation will have for the organization. It should be open to the possibility of amendments.
Redefine the Job Again: With critical and orderly, in a clear and coherent manner, how to implement each of the steps studied.
Implementation of the New Work System: With the idea that increased productivity and therefore profit.

Manual of the Company or Organization Manual

This text describes in detail each job, specifying roles, tasks, authority, responsibility, and communication.

In its broadest conception, the organization manual is a host manual, as is the presentation of the company to new employees, describing its organization, its objectives, its internal rules, etc.

On the other hand, it is a manual job description and, finally, can contain a chart of the entire company or part of it.

Concept Plan

It is a graphic and schematic representation of the organizational structure of the company, which embodies the organizational units and the relationships between them.

The Organizational Structure or Classification

A) For the Purpose Intended

Informational: Only represent the major units that the company structure, so they provide little general information.
For Analysis: They understand the entire structure, including all units, even small ones, and all existing relationships.

B) Content

Structural: They represent the backbone of the company, i.e., units and their relationships.
Functional: Include in each unit the functions assigned to them.
From Staff: Indicate in each unit, regardless of its denomination, the category and name of the person as well as subordinates assigned to them.

C) Because of the Way

It allows us to easily and accurately express the reality of companies visually.

Vertical: It is most common, simple, and easy to understand.
Horizontal: It is a variant of the vertical, the highest levels of the company are in the area left as it descends to the right are representing.
Radial: It is very unusual because it is unclear. Its design is to place the highest level in the center of the chart, around the same distance lies the 2nd level of authority, and so on.
Climbing: The kind of representation par excellence of the organization by emphasizing the hierarchical chain of command.

Organizational Purposes

The directors and those responsible must know their area of expertise and staff, and staff, their overall position in the company.
Study carefully the structure of the company through its graphical representation.
Facilitate the implementation of modifications to improve the structure.
To highlight the failures such as overlaps, duplications, multiple dependency, isolation, and so on.
Set as the case name and the name of the head of each division, area, department, section, etc.
Give the degree of hierarchy and dependency.
Outlining the functions assigned to each unit.
Represent the members of the organization (name, position, no people, etc.).

Organizational Characteristics

The main objective of the organization is to be a reporting mechanism: the organizational structure to the units comprising the company and their relationships. Requirements:

Accuracy and Reality: The organization must reflect the actual structure that the company is in each moment as it really is.
Clarity and Simplicity: Should be easily understood by representing only the essential elements, preventing strokes or connections that cause misunderstandings.

Concept of Organization

Organizing is one of the functions of the address. It is the effect of joint action, dispose of and make operational a set of elements to achieve a particular purpose.

What has become clear is that when a group of people work together, their effectiveness increases if they are thoroughly familiar with the tasks and roles that each must develop and how they interact with those engaged in by others.

This situation raised to an organizational structure will consist of a set of standards, methods, and principles to coordinate the available resources, technical, financial, and work to reach an end or goal with minimum effort and less cost.

So the organization is achieved:

Share tasks and responsibilities.
To coordinate between individuals and departments that make up the company.

Type of Organization

1) Formal

The formal organization is the structure that the company intentionally chosen, i.e., the identification and classification tasks, the grouping of these organizational units, the allocation of authority and responsibility, and channels of communication and coordination. Therefore, what has been written down.

The formal organization has never established and enforced rigidly. It should create a system where the individual develops their skills, creativity, establishing good communication, so that individual efforts are channeled towards achieving the overall objectives.

Within the formal organization are going to study different types of organizations which reflect the different organizational structures of the company.

2) Informal

Within the company, the informal organization is to be understood as that which consists of a group of people, employees that they interrelate to have concerns, interests, concerns, etc., common. This may be developing within the formal organization, others which, although not embodied in writing, represent a pressure group that its objective is to defend their rights (trade union), or groups of persons engaged in common outside the company.

Departmentalization

It is one of the first phases taking place in the conduct of the company, i.e., create departments. Departments that will give us the reference sections, areas, divisions, branches, etc. that the organization has formally defined, in which, are involved in the activity of the company, under the supervision and authority of the controller.

The process of allocating roles, division of work, that is departmentalization. The name of each department sets out in more or less widespread, so that they understand what their functions.

Types of Departmentalization

For Simple Numbers: Based on placing under the supervision of one head several people developing the same tasks.
By Time: Appears in those companies where the work is continuous, 24 hours, i.e., shifts are performed, may or may not perform the same tasks.
Function: The grouping of activities according to the various functions performed by the company and from the core functions emerge a 2nd level where they will be deductible up to reach the levels of task performance.
Geographically: Arises when the company operates over wide geographical areas, it is desirable that certain activities are clustered in an area to be assigned to a manager.
For Consumers: It is sometimes interesting to group activities according to different types of customers who have distinct needs.
Per Processor: Designed to save through the integration of tasks based on the production lines. It is based on the evolution of large companies with prior departmentalization by function.
For Products and Services: Companies that serve different products and services may establish departments for each of them in senior management delegating responsibility to assume authority over the basic functions of production, administration, personnel, etc., and its plot.