The Distinctions of Role and Job in the Narrative of Work
02.17.05 22:06 Filed in: Coordination
of Action | Language
and Linguistics
There are situations we have observed where
employees cannot embrace the narrative of the
business because they confuse the distinctions of
role and job.
We recently encountered a situation that involved an Instrumentation and Control (I&C) shop at a large power plant where work wasn't getting done. The backlog of broken, out of service, inaccurate and otherwise unavailable I&C equipment was large and continuously increasing. Both the manager and the technicians were at a loss of how to move forward and address this accumulation of what was essentially undone work. Nothing the manager could say or do seemed to make a difference in what was being accomplished, or more accurately, what was not being accomplished.
We talked with the technicians about the nature of the backlog, and what they had to accomplish to repair broken equipment. They spoke of the administrative overhead associated with documenting work performed, of complex coordination necessary to take instruments off-line, and of long periods of inactivity waiting for support personnel, parts, or permission. When we talked about addressing these breakdowns, we would commonly hear things like, "That's not my job, I'm an I&C technician", or "All I want to do is fix the electronics, and they (meaning everybody else that wasn't a fellow I&C technican) won't let me do it."
It became apparent that technicians were confusing their role as I&C technicians with their jobs as people who accomplished the repair of I&C equipment in a certain environment. The role of I&C technician was that of a trade or craft, where an individual has skills, knowledge, and abilities to work on Instrumentation and Control equipment.
The job on the other hand, was a broader distinction. Dependent on the environment, it called for someone with the disciplines of an I&C technician to maintain, calibrate, and when necessary, repair I&C equipment in the context of a large power plant. This context required all employees to be masters at documentation, coordinating work, and anticipating and preventing breakdowns that occur with personnel, parts, and permissions.
The technicians' role was to be I&C technicians, to demonstrate the skill and competence in working on I&C equipment. Their job was to take care of I&C equipment within the constraints and limitations of the greater context of the plant and to do so in a way that maximized the operational availability of their equipment, and accounted for documentation, coordination, and anticipation and prevention of breakdowns.
These two distinctions were significantly different in scope, and easily confused. It was complicated by the fact that plant management refered to the job and the role by the same name of I&C technician. The very language used to manage the situation contributed to its complexity.
In the end, the solution was surprisingly simple. A narrative about the job of being an I&C technician was crafted and presented in a manner designed to connect with technicians, and connect them to accomplishing the necessary backlog elimination. This new narrative revealed to the technicians, many for the first time, what it meant to be an I&C technician (role) in a Instrumation and Control shop (job).
For them, and the backlog elimination project, success hinged on understanding the distinction between role and job.
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This article and incorporated images are ©2005 Brad Williamson All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for reproduction not for profit in its entirety including this copyright notice.
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We recently encountered a situation that involved an Instrumentation and Control (I&C) shop at a large power plant where work wasn't getting done. The backlog of broken, out of service, inaccurate and otherwise unavailable I&C equipment was large and continuously increasing. Both the manager and the technicians were at a loss of how to move forward and address this accumulation of what was essentially undone work. Nothing the manager could say or do seemed to make a difference in what was being accomplished, or more accurately, what was not being accomplished.
We talked with the technicians about the nature of the backlog, and what they had to accomplish to repair broken equipment. They spoke of the administrative overhead associated with documenting work performed, of complex coordination necessary to take instruments off-line, and of long periods of inactivity waiting for support personnel, parts, or permission. When we talked about addressing these breakdowns, we would commonly hear things like, "That's not my job, I'm an I&C technician", or "All I want to do is fix the electronics, and they (meaning everybody else that wasn't a fellow I&C technican) won't let me do it."
It became apparent that technicians were confusing their role as I&C technicians with their jobs as people who accomplished the repair of I&C equipment in a certain environment. The role of I&C technician was that of a trade or craft, where an individual has skills, knowledge, and abilities to work on Instrumentation and Control equipment.
The job on the other hand, was a broader distinction. Dependent on the environment, it called for someone with the disciplines of an I&C technician to maintain, calibrate, and when necessary, repair I&C equipment in the context of a large power plant. This context required all employees to be masters at documentation, coordinating work, and anticipating and preventing breakdowns that occur with personnel, parts, and permissions.
The technicians' role was to be I&C technicians, to demonstrate the skill and competence in working on I&C equipment. Their job was to take care of I&C equipment within the constraints and limitations of the greater context of the plant and to do so in a way that maximized the operational availability of their equipment, and accounted for documentation, coordination, and anticipation and prevention of breakdowns.
These two distinctions were significantly different in scope, and easily confused. It was complicated by the fact that plant management refered to the job and the role by the same name of I&C technician. The very language used to manage the situation contributed to its complexity.
In the end, the solution was surprisingly simple. A narrative about the job of being an I&C technician was crafted and presented in a manner designed to connect with technicians, and connect them to accomplishing the necessary backlog elimination. This new narrative revealed to the technicians, many for the first time, what it meant to be an I&C technician (role) in a Instrumation and Control shop (job).
For them, and the backlog elimination project, success hinged on understanding the distinction between role and job.
-----------
This article and incorporated images are ©2005 Brad Williamson All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for reproduction not for profit in its entirety including this copyright notice.
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