Job Analysis

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Get focused on what you need to do in your role.

We have all experienced that appalling sense of having far too much work to do and too little time to do it in. We can choose to ignore this, and work unreasonably long hours to stay on top of our workload. The alternative is to work more intelligently, by focusing on the things that are important for job success and reducing the time we spend on low priority tasks.

Job Analysis is the first step in doing this, and it's a key technique for managing job overload – an important source of stress. To do an excellent job, you need to understand fully what is expected of you. While this may seem obvious, in the hurly-burly of a new, fast-moving, high-pressure role, it is often something that is easy to overlook.

By understanding the priorities in your job, and what constitutes success within it, you can focus on these activities and minimize work on other tasks as much as possible. This helps you get the greatest return from the work you do, and keep your workload under control.

Job Analysis is a useful technique for getting a firm grip on what really is important in your job so that you are able to perform excellently. It helps you to cut through clutter and distraction to get to the heart of what you need to do.

Note that this tool takes two forms – the short-form we discuss here assumes that your organization is already well organized and that its job descriptions, review criteria and incentives are well-aligned and correct. The long-form (discussed within our Stress Management Masterclass), helps you to deal with jobs where this is not the case – here, inconsistent job design can cause enormous stress.

Using the Tool

To conduct a job analysis, go through the following steps:...