Desigining routine office work using Socio-technical Systems approach

The following notes highlight the main ideas on designing routine office work using the socio-technical systems approach:

1. Step 0: Entry, Sanction, and Startup
2. Step 1: Initial Scan
• Identify the environment
• Specify inputs and outputs
• Summarize major historical, social and physical features
• Formulate the mission
• Formulate the philosophy
3. Step 2: Technical analysis
• Specify each step of the conversion process
• Identify unit operations
• Specify variations
• Match variances with unit operations
• Pinpoint variance interrelations
• Designate key variances
• Identify key variance control factors
4. Step 3: Social analysis
• Draw the role network
• Analyze psychological job criteria
5. Step 4: Work System Design
• Mission inputs and outputs
• Team boundaries and spheres of responsibility
• Skills contained in each team
• Team pay structure
• Alternative roles for management personnel
• Coordination mechanisms among teams
• Technical enhancements
6. Step 5: Approval and enhancement

Reference
Pava, C.H. (1983) "Chapter 4: Routine Office Work" Managing New Office Technology: An organizational strategy, The Free Press.