Create A Job Help: 5 High Suggestions To Observe
5 top tips for creating a job aid
I am a teaching designer who got into the position by chance. I was originally hired because I was a subject matter expert. My first employer taught me the knowledge and skills to design and develop the materials that I would later use for my education. Of course when I started there were a lot of things I just didn’t know about teaching design. One such element was the job aid. Eventually, if you work in learning and development, your manager or stakeholder will ask you to create a study guide. I remember being overwhelmed by this request when my employer first asked me to create a job sheet. I thought there was a secret format that job aids had to be in. It turns out that the term job aid simply means any tool that helps employees complete a specific set of tasks.
1. It should only be available when employees need it
I recommend creating job aids for tasks that employees rarely need to complete. For example, if employees do not perform these tasks daily or weekly, but only monthly or even less frequently, it is not easy to memorize these steps. Job aids can also support employees in the early stages of new procedures until these procedures are remembered.
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2. It should be available where employees use it
When designing a job guide, consider where employees will use it. If, for example, a certain device is involved in the process, it is ideal to have the work aid displayed next to this device. Posting the job aid on the company’s intranet site is appropriate for procedures that employees perform in front of their computer, but if the procedure is completed elsewhere, there is no benefit in accessing it from a computer. An example from my own history was the task of creating a work aid for the device and key deregistration room. This working aid was printed, laminated and displayed next to the entrance to this room.
3. It should be in an appropriate format
When I worked at Toronto Pearson International Airport, all employees had ID cards on lanyards. We often created job aids in a format that could be printed and laminated and then placed next to employee IDs on the same lanyard. Of course, keep in mind that having too many work aids around your neck can be cumbersome.
4. It should be simple and contain just enough information to get the job done
In general, I’m not a fan of bulleted or numbered text, but in the case of a job aid, it’s best to format your content in simple dots. Again, you just want to provide just enough information for employees to get the job done. You don’t need a detailed introduction or backstory about the importance of the procedure. Save that for the eLearning course.
I think the best example of a well-designed job tool is the parking signs you can find in the downtown area of every city. In the example below, the P with a green circle means you can park there, but there are some additional conditions as well. For example, you can only park for 30 minutes at a time. In addition, you can only park between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on all days except Sundays.
I think the parking sign illustrates the example of a simple work aid.
5. Training on how to use the job aid should not be required
You shouldn’t need separate training. It should be completely self explanatory. If you need to train employees to use job aid, you’ve got it wrong. Often the solution is to keep your work aids very simple.
Summary
You can use any example, but I like to visualize the parking sign when designing and developing job aids. You can see that it makes use of all 5 things I want to consider when designing job aids:
- You only need it if you park here.
- It’s where it’s needed.
- It has a suitable format.
- It contains only the necessary information and is simple and punctual.
- It doesn’t require any additional training.
If you try to hit each of these points when designing your job aids, you will be fine.
Originally published on captivateteacher.com.
