Job Aids video storyboard Matt Boardman, Chiao-Ling Lu

John is a manager in a company. He is very frustrated with the organization of employee files. It is the end of the month again, and it always takes days for him to match employees’ file with their codes.

He Google’s his problem and looks for solutions.

He found a solution called “Job aids”, which will he believes will facilitate his working pace. Use Job Aids to improve your work effectiveness

Job aids are tools that help people perform a task efficiently and successfully without special training or reliance on memory. It also helps direct, guide, and enlighten work performance.

Job aids can be step-by-step guidance sheets (phone book), show a process (instruction sheet), form, worksheet, and so forth. User can simply follow the steps or directions of the job aids and improve their working performance.

John decides to make his own job aid to solve his problem.

He then uses his computer to make a list, which includes the information of the employees and their business codes. (Show the image of his job aid).

It took him a few hours to finish, but he is very satisfied with the function of his job aid. Now, he doesn’t need to check each file to match his employee’s codes anymore. With a job aid, John no longer has to rely on his memory which will save him hours each week.

After trying to relocate a previous website John comes across “interactive job aids”, which allow people to insert their job aid into their mobile phone and use their job aid on the go.

People can simply use Google automatic feature to set this up on their phone.

A month has gone by and John has saved endless hours, he even gets to leave work early a few days a week. He has recommended job aids to other employees and now other people at work have discovered them. People can simply use Google automatic feature to set this up on their phone.

Let’s do a quick review of the 3 main types of job aids John discovered before he found the right one (informational): Procedural - A task that can be completed by following a particular order of steps. (Flow chart or diagram picture) Informational - References that help us remember who, what, when, why, where. (Maps, phone books, dictionary examples) Decision making - Provides information, guidance, expert advice “how to think about a topic” (show example) Job Aids Procedural Informational Decision making

Conclusion: Job aids are tools that help people improve their working performance by making their work easier and more effective. John found out that an informational job aid is perfect for his particular case (relying on memory).

Want to improve your working performance and make your work more effective? Consider making a job aid. You already heard how much it benefitted John, so now let it benefit you!