Not knowing how work is done is a systemic weakness in an organization.
Getting work done successfully can be easy, but sometimes we encounter challenges. Unplanned delays, surges in workload, or understaffing occur in even the most well planned work settings. Usually people pull it together to successfully complete the task at hand and have forgotten the challenges by the next day.
The usual successful outcomes means we may never really know how work gets done until it is not done successfully and we suddenly hear about all these challenges. This puts stress into the system as challenges arrive unexpectedly and resources need to be diverted - it can feel like a momentary crisis. A stressed system is not able to learn and improve and becomes vulnerable and stagnant – a weakness that organizations cannot afford.
"To learn about work challenges we need to look down and in to understand how work gets done."
Suzanne Jackson, Human Factor West
Task analysis, activity analysis and timeline analysis are key methods used in human factors & ergonomics to structure a job into functional units for analysis. When we embed human factors knowledge into existing processes we make the system more able to be successful under varying conditions. We can teach our people to recognize work challenges as poorly designed interactions. Acting gradually to challenges is how organizations learn and improve. This is how to keep stress out of the system when things go wrong because it prepares the system and avoids larger incidents.
Once we have our list of tasks or activities we need a framework that helps us look down and into the interactions with the components of the task. The SHEL model (the name being derived from the initial letters of its components, Software, Hardware, Environment, Liveware) was first developed by Edwards in 1972 with a modified diagram to illustrate the model developed by Hawkins in 1975. [1]
"As a context for looking down and into tasks a shared and broader understanding is useful, accepting maybe not essential! The benefits are a richer and deeper understanding of the connections between Team, Tech, Process, and Challenge Symbols- often as clusters and/or with arrow connections between them. As such, the human factors that emerge prompted by the SHEL model will likely have more clarity and acceptance in your group."
Martin Johnson, Creator of BIG PICTURE®
Originally used to apply human factors to human-machine interfaces in aviation, it is a relevant and generic framework that can be used to map the designed interactions in any work task. In this framework, at the task level, we focus on the human-element interaction, especially those interactions that can be designed for human well-being, error, accident or injury prevention. The wavy lines around the letters indicate the interactions and fit with the person is the focus of the analysis not each component on its own.
Here are some examples of human factors from each category:
Software – rules, instructions, regulations, emergency procedures, policies, procedures, standard operating practices, computer programs, documentations such as checklists, manuals, publications, maps, charts;
Environment – temperature, noise, vibration, lighting in the immediate working area and well as the surrounding environment. Also organization environment which will be cultural in nature, influenced by things like operating or service culture, management style and history; &
Liveware – other people - co-workers, others who contribute to your work either before or after you such as stockers, schedulers or cleaners, as well as maintenance, administrative personnel, management, customers, public.
Each of these human factors affects the performance we get from the system. The overall health of the system including the people in it means each of these interactions should be designed to meet human limitations, enhance human abilities, and help prevent injury and error,
