The world is changing at lightning speed. Who foresaw at the beginning of this century that we could now conduct safety inspections with a drone? So it’s odd that many work instructions still look the same as they did ten years ago.
Do they still fit the current times and trends? In this article, we focus on creating understandable and attractive standard work instructions that are appreciated by
employees.
Things to keep in mind while writing a work instruction.
The way employees interact is influenced by trends in the labor market, at work, and in society. As a result, you’ll know what appeals to them and what you need to consider while writing job instructions. For example, when the labor market becomes increasingly internationalized, there are greater linguistic and cultural disparities on the shop floor. As a result, work instructions must consider this. In the Netherlands, for example, they must be simple to read for workers who speak Dutch as a second language.
Employees at several Dutch businesses do not speak the language at all. This necessitates easy-to-understand work instruction. When presenting visual content, consider cultural variations as well. In the Netherlands, a thumbs up indicates “OK,” but in certain nations, it is a major insult.
Increasing work tempo.
Another tendency is an increase in work speed. Often, there isn’t enough time to go over a lengthy job instruction in a calm and focused manner. The message and its impact must be evident as soon as possible. This indicates that the work instruction should be brief and to the point. This necessitates greater effort on the part of the author in order for the user to grasp the work instructions in less time and energy. Our society’s visual culture is growing, which is a significant development.
We’re used to seeing a lot of pictures with brief captions, and we’re seeing more and more videos. Examine the daily and weekly newspapers, as well as social media. As a result, workers now read, view, and search in different ways than they did 10 or even five years ago. You may take advantage of this with your work instructions if you include a lot of graphic content. In other words, a work instruction must consider trends. As a result, today’s appealing job instruction differs from work instruction from 10 years ago.
Use technology.
What possibilities does modern technology have for developing and disseminating appealing work instructions? Consider using your smartphone to see work instructions whenever and whenever you need them, thanks to QR codes and online work instructions. Employees may see job instructions on their smartphones on the spot by scanning QR codes on specified locations and items (such as a machine or packing).
The benefit is that you can maintain all of your work instructions in one place and give a big number of translations with relative ease.
So try to think about how you can make your work instructions as relevant as possible to your employees? Are they up to date? Do they understand the text, is it attractively written? To find out more click on the link below.
