Time Study For Small Businesses

Where does the time go? Can a procedure be more efficient? How long does it take an employee to finish a task? These questions and many more are posed by business owners every day. One of the best ways to find the answers is by doing a time study of your business.  

Time studies have been a part of industrial productivity improvements for centuries. In the past, these methods have included costly time measurement and method specialists working minute by minute on each task analyzed.  

A significant issue with time studies in history is that workers behave very differently when someone is watching over their shoulder.  

Modern methods utilizing smartphone technology now allows small business owners to execute this analysis at a minimal cost with much better and proven results.

The ‘trick’ is to install a Time Sample App on your smartphone and attach the phone to a discrete placement such as an electrical conduit.  Using this you can video a specific work task and without having to watch it for hours identify start and parts and finish with clear time stamps.  

See figure one. There are numerous low-cost smartphone holder attachments; this specific one is a flashlight magnetic holder that one can find at the hardware store for $10.  

Figure One:  

Legalities:  

Timestamp cameras do not record audio which would be an agreement requirement as to who is audio recorded. So, there is no need to contact your attorney. Videotaping of your site is same as Safety/Break-in/Burglary video coverage which is in your control as a facility owner.  

Though for integrity with your personnel you should inform them that you are taking some video samples for training purposes, which is correct as this method is very useful for making internal training videos as well.  

Do these time studies over time, over several days, and weeks, and you will have very useful results at a quite minimal cost. And another ‘pair of eyes’ which every business owner needs and can use.

At Cogent Analytics, we never stop looking for ways to improve your business and neither should you. So, check out some of our other posts for helpful business information: