How to write understandable work instructions

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R

rogersgeorge

#52
-Personally, I've never met an English-speaking adult who didn't know 'perpendicular' (and it's shorter and less ambiguous than 'square (not angled)').
-I don't leave out 'the' unless I have serious space constraints. (So I'd write, "Adjust the inducer head...")
-Good on getting rid of the acronym, and
-you're right, the reason isn't necessary.
-I'd also kill the instruction to look at the illustration unless the illustration is on another page. The less a document refers to itself, the better.

—Now you know why one of my email addresses is curmudgeon (at) writing-rag.com. (just getting set up there—nothing to see on the site yet.)
 
#53
Thanks. Believe it or not, our engineers, who are pressed for time, say "theres no way you can write all that for each operation" so the trick becomes - when do I know when I need the "long form" versus "asssemble like you always do"?
This prompted the thought about the engineers I worked with and the experience of them writing tomes of instruction for building one of the finest robotic 'arms' in the world - only to have it completely (well almost) ignored by the assembly operators!

You see it was written using "engineering-isms" and not 'plain' English. We could debate all day about whether 'perpedicular' should replace 'square to' and so on, but the fact remains, if you encourage the involvement of the people who do the job, they'll let you know what to write and you'll get their buy in. Something my previous engineering colleagues rarely did.

It will also help with the communication (some might say 'training') of the key characteristics of the job which must be followed with discipline (isn't that the subject of another recent thread?)
 
J

JimBrown

#54
Very interesting thread everyone- it was searching Google for help with works instructions that brought me to this site by the way. Lots of useful hints, thanks.

I once read an article on Job Aids in Training and Development Journal- Job Aids and WIs are not exactly the same thing, I know. I guess WIs are an example of Job Aids. The article was by Bullock, well known in training circles, and he ended up with a job aid for planning or evaluating job aids. With an associate, I adapted it as part of a project on a post-grad course I was doing, and for what it's worth I attach it.
 

Attachments

Jim Wynne

Staff member
Admin
#55
Very interesting thread everyone- it was searching Google for help with works instructions that brought me to this site by the way. Lots of useful hints, thanks.

I once read an article on Job Aids in Training and Development Journal- Job Aids and WIs are not exactly the same thing, I know. I guess WIs are an example of Job Aids. The article was by Bullock, well known in training circles, and he ended up with a job aid for planning or evaluating job aids. With an associate, I adapted it as part of a project on a post-grad course I was doing, and for what it's worth I attach it.
Welcome, Jim:D

I think your attachment could be helpful to a lot of people. :agree1:
 
D

Document Control

#56
I have found that manufacturing employees work with their hands and do not do paperwork well. If they did paperwork, they would be office workers and worthless for producing manufacturing instructions.

They will take a picture, which will give you a semi accurate record of what took place. I like to interview workers with the pictures. This information is used as the text to support the pictures of the work.

My advice. Go get some cheap digital cameras and ask them to start shooting.
 

ScottK

Not out of the crisis
Staff member
Super Moderator
#57
I have found that manufacturing employees work with their hands and do not do paperwork well. If they did paperwork, they would be office workers and worthless for producing manufacturing instructions.

They will take a picture, which will give you a semi accurate record of what took place. I like to interview workers with the pictures. This information is used as the text to support the pictures of the work.

My advice. Go get some cheap digital cameras and ask them to start shooting.

while I agree that photos are the way to go in many circumstances I find your first statement discriminatory and baseless.

having been doing this stuff for a while now, I have always found that the input of the people using the instructions while writing them completely essential to getting it right the first time.
 

jikhtiari

Starting to get Involved
#59
We've had some success using a team based approach to work instructions.

The team consists of the members performing the work, a quality tech, a clerical worker with Digital camera & MS Word skills. The manufacturing members know what they want, they just don't know how to do it. The clerical worker provides support to bring their ideas to life. And since they are ones creating the work instructions, ownership is very high. .
 
D

Document Control

#60
Your approach sounds a lot like an interview. The team approach is an interesting twist. Having a group in one room probably increases your response rate. Our production schedule is very tight. Loosing a group for that much time would be a hard sell in our plant. Good luck. :agree1:
 
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