Job Analysis
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
We have all experienced that appalling sense
of having far too much work to do and too little time to do it
in. We can choose to ignore this, and work unreasonably long hours
to stay on top of our workload. The alternative is to work more
intelligently, by focusing on the things that are important for
job success and reducing the time we spend on low priority tasks.
Job Analysis is the first step in doing this, and it's a key technique for managing job overload – an
important source of stress.
To do an excellent job, you need to understand fully what is
expected of you. While this may seem obvious, in the hurly-burly of
a new, fast-moving, high-pressure role, it is oftentimes something
that is easy to overlook.
By understanding the priorities in your job, and what constitutes
success within it, you can focus on these activities and minimize
work on other tasks as much as possible. This helps you get the
greatest return from the work you do, and keep your workload under
control.
Job Analysis is a useful technique for getting a firm grip on what
really is important in your job so that you are able to perform
excellently. It helps you to cut through clutter and distraction to
get to the heart of what you need to do.
Note that this tool takes two forms – the short-form we discuss
here assumes that your organization is already well organized
and that its job descriptions, review criteria and incentives
are well-aligned and correct. The long-form
(discussed within our
Stress
Management Masterclass ), helps you to deal with jobs where
this is not the case – here, inconsistent job design can cause
enormous stress.
Using the Tool
To conduct a job analysis, go through the following steps:
1. Review Formal Job Documentation
Look at your job description. Identify the key objectives and
priorities within it.
Look at the forms for the periodic performance reviews. These show
precisely the behaviors that will be rewarded and, by implication,
show those that will be punished.
Find out what training is available for the role. Ensure that you
attend appropriate training so that you know as much as possible
about what you need to know.
Look at incentive schemes to understand the behaviors that these
reward.
2. Understand the Organization's Strategy and Culture
Your job exists for a reason – this will ultimately be determined by
the strategy of the organizational unit you work for. This strategy
is often expressed in a mission statement. In some way, what you do
should help the organization achieve its mission (if it does not,
you have to ask yourself how secure the job is!). Make sure you
understand and perform well the tasks that contribute to the
strategy.
Similarly, every organization has its own culture – its own, historically developed values, rights and wrongs, and
things that it considers to be important. If you are new to an
organization, talk through with established, respected members
of staff to understand these values.
Make sure that you understand this culture. Make sure that your
actions reinforce the company's culture, or at least do not go
against it. Looked at through the lens of culture, will the company
value what you do?
Check that your priorities are consistent with this mission
statement and the company culture.
3. Find Out Who the Top Achievers are, and Understand Why They are
Successful
Inside or outside the organization, there may be people in a similar
role to you who are seen as highly successful. Find out how they
work, and what they do to generate this success. Look at what they
do, and learn from them. Understand what skills make them
successful, and learn those skills.
4. Check You Have the People and Resources to do the Job
The next step is to check that you have the staff support, resources
and training needed to do an excellent job. If you do not, start
work on obtaining them.
5. Confirm Priorities With Your Boss
By this stage, you should have a thorough understanding of what your
job entails, and what your key objectives are. You should also have
a good idea of the resources that you need, and any additional
training you may need to do the best you can.
This is the time to talk the job through with your boss, and confirm
that you share an understanding of what constitutes good performance
in the role.
It is also worth talking through serious inconsistencies, and
agreeing how these can be managed.
6. Take Action
You should now know what you have to do to be successful in your
job. You should have a good idea of the most important things that
you have to do, and also the least important.
Where you can drop the less-important tasks, do so. Where you can
de-prioritize them, do so.
Where you need more resource or training to do your job, negotiate
for this.
Remember to be a little sensitive in the way you do this: Good
teamwork often means helping other people out with jobs that do not
benefit you. However, do not let people take advantage of you: Be
assertive in explaining that you have your own work to do. If you
cannot drop tasks, delegate them or negotiate longer time scales.
Key Points
Job analysis is a five-step technique for:
Understanding and agreeing how to achieve peak performance in your
job.
Ensuring that you and your boss agree on the areas you should
concentrate on when time gets tight; and the areas that can be
de-emphasized during this time.
Making sure that you have the resources, training and staff needed
to do a good job.
By using the Job Analysis technique, you should
gain a good understanding of how you can excel at your job. You
should also understand your job priorities.
This helps you to manage the stress of job overload by helping
to decide which jobs you should drop.
Job Analysis is just one of many practical action-oriented techniques
for reducing the stress of job overload. These and other types
of technique help you to resolve structural problems within jobs,
work more effectively with your boss and powerful people, improve
the way your teams function and become more assertive so that
other people respect your right not to take on an excessive workload.
These are all important techniques for bringing job stress under
control, for improving the quality of your working life, and for
achieving career success.
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Ask questions, or share your experience
What members say... Dianna wrote Excellent! Let us know how the analysis works out and what insights you discover. I think we can all learn so much from each other - it never ceases to amaze me how similar people's issues are no matter where they live or what they do!
Cheers!
Dianna August 16, 2011 bern wrote I like your idea that it can be applied to family life. cheers for that insight. I look forward in putting it in to practice. August 15, 2011 Dianna wrote The message in this article is SO very important. We are all so busy and you can get yourself on a pace that is unmanageable very quickly. By paring down to the essentials you ensure you are doing a really good job on the aspects of your job that have the highest priority. Instead of feeling pulled in too many directions and spreading yourself too thin,taking time to do a job analysis will help you find some of the things you can delegate or even let go of.
And I wouldn't limit this concept to just your paid work. Think about a "job" analysis for the various roles you play. As a mom I know it is easy to get the kids involved in so many activities that other things start to slip - I sacrifice wholesome meals for fast food drive-throughs because I'm racing from place to place trying to do it all. It's crazy! But by reframing the whole point of extracurricular activities, it became a lot clearer that for our family less is more.
It's all about priorities in every aspect of your life. I firmly believe that trying to do everything will backfire in the end.
Dianna June 2, 2010
Tags:
Skills, Stress Management
of having far too much work to do and too little time to do it
in. We can choose to ignore this, and work unreasonably long hours
to stay on top of our workload. The alternative is to work more
intelligently, by focusing on the things that are important for
job success and reducing the time we spend on low priority tasks.
Job Analysis is the first step in doing this, and it's a key technique for managing job overload – an
important source of stress.
To do an excellent job, you need to understand fully what is
expected of you. While this may seem obvious, in the hurly-burly of
a new, fast-moving, high-pressure role, it is oftentimes something
that is easy to overlook.
By understanding the priorities in your job, and what constitutes
success within it, you can focus on these activities and minimize
work on other tasks as much as possible. This helps you get the
greatest return from the work you do, and keep your workload under
control.
Job Analysis is a useful technique for getting a firm grip on what
really is important in your job so that you are able to perform
excellently. It helps you to cut through clutter and distraction to
get to the heart of what you need to do.
Note that this tool takes two forms – the short-form we discuss
here assumes that your organization is already well organized
and that its job descriptions, review criteria and incentives
are well-aligned and correct. The long-form
(discussed within our
Stress
Management Masterclass ), helps you to deal with jobs where
this is not the case – here, inconsistent job design can cause
enormous stress.
Using the Tool
To conduct a job analysis, go through the following steps:
1. Review Formal Job Documentation
Look at your job description. Identify the key objectives and
priorities within it.
Look at the forms for the periodic performance reviews. These show
precisely the behaviors that will be rewarded and, by implication,
show those that will be punished.
Find out what training is available for the role. Ensure that you
attend appropriate training so that you know as much as possible
about what you need to know.
Look at incentive schemes to understand the behaviors that these
reward.
2. Understand the Organization's Strategy and Culture
Your job exists for a reason – this will ultimately be determined by
the strategy of the organizational unit you work for. This strategy
is often expressed in a mission statement. In some way, what you do
should help the organization achieve its mission (if it does not,
you have to ask yourself how secure the job is!). Make sure you
understand and perform well the tasks that contribute to the
strategy.
Similarly, every organization has its own culture – its own, historically developed values, rights and wrongs, and
things that it considers to be important. If you are new to an
organization, talk through with established, respected members
of staff to understand these values.
Make sure that you understand this culture. Make sure that your
actions reinforce the company's culture, or at least do not go
against it. Looked at through the lens of culture, will the company
value what you do?
Check that your priorities are consistent with this mission
statement and the company culture.
3. Find Out Who the Top Achievers are, and Understand Why They are
Successful
Inside or outside the organization, there may be people in a similar
role to you who are seen as highly successful. Find out how they
work, and what they do to generate this success. Look at what they
do, and learn from them. Understand what skills make them
successful, and learn those skills.
4. Check You Have the People and Resources to do the Job
The next step is to check that you have the staff support, resources
and training needed to do an excellent job. If you do not, start
work on obtaining them.
5. Confirm Priorities With Your Boss
By this stage, you should have a thorough understanding of what your
job entails, and what your key objectives are. You should also have
a good idea of the resources that you need, and any additional
training you may need to do the best you can.
This is the time to talk the job through with your boss, and confirm
that you share an understanding of what constitutes good performance
in the role.
It is also worth talking through serious inconsistencies, and
agreeing how these can be managed.
6. Take Action
You should now know what you have to do to be successful in your
job. You should have a good idea of the most important things that
you have to do, and also the least important.
Where you can drop the less-important tasks, do so. Where you can
de-prioritize them, do so.
Where you need more resource or training to do your job, negotiate
for this.
Remember to be a little sensitive in the way you do this: Good
teamwork often means helping other people out with jobs that do not
benefit you. However, do not let people take advantage of you: Be
assertive in explaining that you have your own work to do. If you
cannot drop tasks, delegate them or negotiate longer time scales.
Key Points
Job analysis is a five-step technique for:
Understanding and agreeing how to achieve peak performance in your
job.
Ensuring that you and your boss agree on the areas you should
concentrate on when time gets tight; and the areas that can be
de-emphasized during this time.
Making sure that you have the resources, training and staff needed
to do a good job.
By using the Job Analysis technique, you should
gain a good understanding of how you can excel at your job. You
should also understand your job priorities.
This helps you to manage the stress of job overload by helping
to decide which jobs you should drop.
Job Analysis is just one of many practical action-oriented techniques
for reducing the stress of job overload. These and other types
of technique help you to resolve structural problems within jobs,
work more effectively with your boss and powerful people, improve
the way your teams function and become more assertive so that
other people respect your right not to take on an excessive workload.
These are all important techniques for bringing job stress under
control, for improving the quality of your working life, and for
achieving career success.
Mark this article as completed on your Personal Learning Plan
Did you find this article helpful?
Click to vote no
No
Click to vote yes
Yes
Thank you for your vote!
Thank you for your vote.
Please take a moment to tell us why you didn't find this article helpful.
Where to go from here: Next article Next Get Productive! Learning Stream article
View print friendly version
Ask questions, or share your experience
What members say... Dianna wrote Excellent! Let us know how the analysis works out and what insights you discover. I think we can all learn so much from each other - it never ceases to amaze me how similar people's issues are no matter where they live or what they do!
Cheers!
Dianna August 16, 2011 bern wrote I like your idea that it can be applied to family life. cheers for that insight. I look forward in putting it in to practice. August 15, 2011 Dianna wrote The message in this article is SO very important. We are all so busy and you can get yourself on a pace that is unmanageable very quickly. By paring down to the essentials you ensure you are doing a really good job on the aspects of your job that have the highest priority. Instead of feeling pulled in too many directions and spreading yourself too thin,taking time to do a job analysis will help you find some of the things you can delegate or even let go of.
And I wouldn't limit this concept to just your paid work. Think about a "job" analysis for the various roles you play. As a mom I know it is easy to get the kids involved in so many activities that other things start to slip - I sacrifice wholesome meals for fast food drive-throughs because I'm racing from place to place trying to do it all. It's crazy! But by reframing the whole point of extracurricular activities, it became a lot clearer that for our family less is more.
It's all about priorities in every aspect of your life. I firmly believe that trying to do everything will backfire in the end.
Dianna June 2, 2010
