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Dear Sharon - love this topic. I'ts near and dear to my heart.
If you were to test your workforce for reading comprehension levels, do you have any idea what you might find? Of course it depends on job prerequisites but I have been into companies where the comprehension level was so low it was scary - how does 3rd grade sound?
What about workers who don't speak English? How about workers who can't read AT ALL? (don't be shocked by this, people who can't read are amazingly good at hiding it. My grandfather hid it his whole life - and he was a factory foreman. He was kind and wise - he just never learned to read because he had to quit school during the depression to support his family - but I digress---).
Most people write these work instructions at FAR TOO HIGH a comprehension level for an hourly workforce. How do you know? MS Word offers some reading comprehension indices you can run on your documentation - you'll be shocked! Many will test out at graduate level - then we wonder why no one pays attention to them - they can't understand them!
Here's the basic rule. Simple words, short sentences. Pictures, photographs. This worked very well in a cell phone plant where there were 13 different nationalities on the plant floor, all from the far east. All workers had to have some background in electronics but they didn't speak English. The answer? Trainers who spoke the native tongue who would walk them through the new model. Work instructions on the floor? Prints and photos Worked like a charm.
Here's a great exercise you can do with the people writing the instructions. Spllit the group into 2 teams. Give them each some legos or something similar and let them build something - not too complex, but let them have a little fun. Then have them write a work instruction on how to build it. Have the teams switch! Can they build it using the instructions? I have had teams get very creative with cameras and drawings - but they get the point.
Good luck to you - Pen
If you were to test your workforce for reading comprehension levels, do you have any idea what you might find? Of course it depends on job prerequisites but I have been into companies where the comprehension level was so low it was scary - how does 3rd grade sound?
What about workers who don't speak English? How about workers who can't read AT ALL? (don't be shocked by this, people who can't read are amazingly good at hiding it. My grandfather hid it his whole life - and he was a factory foreman. He was kind and wise - he just never learned to read because he had to quit school during the depression to support his family - but I digress---).
Most people write these work instructions at FAR TOO HIGH a comprehension level for an hourly workforce. How do you know? MS Word offers some reading comprehension indices you can run on your documentation - you'll be shocked! Many will test out at graduate level - then we wonder why no one pays attention to them - they can't understand them!
Here's the basic rule. Simple words, short sentences. Pictures, photographs. This worked very well in a cell phone plant where there were 13 different nationalities on the plant floor, all from the far east. All workers had to have some background in electronics but they didn't speak English. The answer? Trainers who spoke the native tongue who would walk them through the new model. Work instructions on the floor? Prints and photos Worked like a charm.
Here's a great exercise you can do with the people writing the instructions. Spllit the group into 2 teams. Give them each some legos or something similar and let them build something - not too complex, but let them have a little fun. Then have them write a work instruction on how to build it. Have the teams switch! Can they build it using the instructions? I have had teams get very creative with cameras and drawings - but they get the point.
Good luck to you - Pen

. But I believe there comes a point where the difference of viewpoint and power-struggle can begin to cause an adverse reaction in a company's morale and product quality.
