Work curve

A tool for managing work time is the work curve that indicates changes in
in output of work over a period of time.

A typical work curve is ‘saddle -backed’ that is - it starts sluggishly

with a sharp rise as the worker gets into his stride, falling off in the middle
with a fresh spurt as the work nears its end and a final falling off during
the last hour.

As can be seen in the figure given below a - b signifies the warming up

period known as WU. The letters b - c indicate the plateau of greatest
steady production. Then, c - d shows the first major drop in production.
After lunch one can see the beneficial effect of the rest period. The
production starts at a higher level then in the morning but never reaches as
high a level as b - c in the morning. F - g shows the effect of accumulated
fatigue at the end of the day. The worker may stop at F or continue doing
the job until g. The drop from c to d is due to boredom developing during
the job if the work is light. In heavy manual work the final decrease will
probably be very great and it is possible that output may fall to zero if
work is continued to the point of exhaustion.
 The most desired work curve is one in which the WU is represented by a
steep line showing that the worker got into the swing of work rapidly and
achieved a high plateau of production. The longer the plateau before
production decreases the greater the amount of work accomplished
throughout the entire time. The output increases during the this period
because muscle tissues become more efficient after some exercise. Carbon
dioxide and lactic acid act as stimulants when present in small quantities
although in large quantities they cause physiological fatigue and slowdown
work.

A poor warming up maybe represented as one of the two types -

1. A long sloping line which eventually reaches a high plateau or

2. a comparatively short line which ends in a low plateau of greatest
production.

The first occurs in the case of worker whose mind is still engrossed
with another task or who is bored or emotionally upset.

The second type of undesirable warming up ends in a low level of

production. This may be due to the fact that the worker has not yet
developed sufficient skill in this particular task or that his energy is
depleted because of previous activity.
A desirable warming up is achieved when

the worker is interested in her work

when she has thought herself into the job before actually beginning
work.

when incentives for high production are present

freedom from fatigue

has adequate skill for the task

smooth and rapid coordination

freedom from worry

are also helpful aids.

A practical and valuable application of the warming up is doing as

much as possible at one sort of task before changing the type of work.
For example, while cleaning group of rooms, a homemaker can do all
the dusting at one time or all the vacuum cleaning or all window
washing. This way she can get a relatively large job done as she is
doing more of each job on plateau of greatest output than a woman
who jumps from job to job and back again.

If the worker continues a piece of work for only a short time and then
turns to another and later turns back to the first one three warming up
are used instead of two. Such a worker is called an erratic worker
whose graph would look something like as shown below.
fTheoretically, most most efficient time management is achieved by
stopping work before the end of the period of greatest output .