Principles and Methods of Instruction in Manufacturing Industry

The primary aim of the instruction in a manufacturing industry is to give the worker the things he must know and the things he should know. It is important that the instructor emphasizes the major points while at the same time; he stimulates the participants to grasp the topic. Let us first know the difference of the word instruct, order, command, direct and request as they are all similar terms but have its own different meanings. According to Lester Bittel in his book “What Every Supervisor Should Know”, the following are definitions which relates to this words:

• INSTRUCT - to furnish knowledge or information in a disciplined systematic way with the expectations of compliance.
• ORDER - to communicate authority with employees so as to arrange a more systematic and productive sequence of activities.
• COMMAND - to exercise authority forcefully with the expectation of obedience.
• DIRECT - to guide or regular in order to achieve a smooth and effective operation.
• REQUEST - to ask courteously, to make known your wishes without the implied assurance that they will be fulfilled.

In giving instruction, remember three important ingredients; What, How, Why. Telling an employee what to do, how to do it, take some effort on the supervision’s part but the biggest error of all is not to tell him why. Telling a worker why something must be done gives the worker a reason for wanting to do.

The four (4) basic steps and methods of instruction.

1. Prepare the worker. Start on schedule. This should be properly coordinated with the worker in order for him to get prepared as much as you do. Place in correct position all the materials and equipment needed. Put the worker at ease. State the job and find out what he already knows about it. Awaken his interest. Get him interested in learning the job.
2. Present the Operation. Tell, show and illustrate important steps, one at a time. Stress each key point. Instruct clearly, completely and patiently, but no more than he can master at one time. Ask questions if instruction is understood.
3. Try-Out Performance and Participation. Have him do the job and correct errors outright. Have him explain each key point to you as he does the job again. Make sure he understands. Continue until you know he knows. Ask “why”, “how”, “when”, “what”, “where”, ”who”.
4. Follow-Up. Put him on his own, instill confidence. Designate to whom he goes for help. Encourage questions. Complement him on his efforts.

Now, to get better results from your instructions, your instruction must be right one in a particular situation. Then select the persons most likely to carry instruction out well. And your instruction will be well accomplished if there’s checking and follow-ups. Be sure it is carried out at the time and in the manner you prescribe.

When will a command be given to a worker? Giving commands are risky but are necessary in emergency situations. Commands maybe carried out in case of an accident;  fire;  you are supervising a crew that is lowering a 100 ton machine into its foundations; or starting and trying out a new and complex machine. But, take note that in general, commands are causes of resentment and its best to avoid them until you really need them.

In giving orders, one has to be aware of the things to be avoided;

• An Offhand Manner. If you want to take instructions seriously, then deliver them that way.
• Assuming A Worker Understands. Give him a chance to ask questions, raise objections. Let him repeat what you have instructed him.
• Too Many Orders. Don’t get lover-happy. Make the ones you issue pay off by keeping them short and specific. Watch your timing too. Wait until one job is done before asking that another be started. Otherwise you’ll be accused of “orders, orders, nothing but orders”.
• Conflicting Instructions. Check to be sure you’re not telling your workers one thing and other supervisors telling these workers another.
• Choosing Only The Instructions. Some people are naturally cooperative others are not. Be sure you don’t overwork the willing-horse and let the hard-to-handle people get out of their share of tough jobs.
• Picking On Anyone. Employees want the worker distributed fairly. Don’t take out a gripe, or grudge against a particular worker by giving him all the dirty work.
• Too Much Detail. Tell the employees enough about the assignment but not too much. Point is that how much you tell depends upon how complicated the job is and how much, the employee knows about it. For an old hand, there’s nothing more tiresome than having details he already knows explained to him still.
• Playing The Big Shot. New supervisors are sometimes guilty of flaunting their authority. Other supervisor feel more confident, know that you don’t have to crack a whip to gain employees respect and loyalty.

After giving orders, you should be able to know also signs of employee resistance and objections. First is the GRIPES, when employees re not afraid to speak up, a supervisor can quickly spot objections that stand on the way of cooperation’s, and can take to remove the objections. Second is the SILENCE, this is a much harder sign of objection. When morale in a shop is bad, workers tend to clam up, thus closing the door to let you in and privy to his reason of resistance or objection.

In order to remove such resistance and objection, one must;

• Try Making A Guarantee. Tomas is sure that a new method won’t work. Tell him if he tries it for a week and he does not find it better than the old way, you’ll promise he can switch back again example advertised reading.
• Try A Demonstration.  A machinist thinks a new device, a safety belt, cause too much restriction in the operation of his job. Say to him: “here let me show you how easy the machine is too operate with a safety belt. It looks a lot harder it actually is”.
• Try A Success Example. Julio doesn’t want to work night shifts? Tell Julio about Johnny who though he would not like working night. But after trying it for a month, won’t work any other shift.
  • Try Asking Questions. If James say’s he can’t operate the machine without making too much scraps, ask him what he finds hardest about the job and whether he feels it has been properly explained.
  • Try Just Plain Listening. Again let’s say Pete won’t overtime today or any other day. Let him rave. He has all his arguments in a friendly manner. When he’s had his complete say, then try persuasion and reasoning.

And lastly, when to put your instruction in writing? First, whenever you change an instruction that was previously in writing, put the new instruction in writing too. Second, if you give an order that must be carried over for another shift. And lastly, when instruction are complex and contain variation from normal, put them in amounts and sequence.

Remember the saying, “If worker has not learned, the instruction has not taught”.