In this chapter, we show how several key skills and dispositions are applied in the context of the firms and jobs described in Chapter Two and the associated communities of practice. We examine four areas--problem solving, team work, communications, and work- related dispositions--in the seven jobs we studied. Examining them separately is necessary to understand how skills vary according to job, community of practice, and work setting. These distinctions are common in the research and policy literature (including our own previous research), and thus facilitate rough comparisons of findings across studies.
We find that the skills and dispositions that we observed are important, even central, to the performance of work in these jobs and settings and salient to the workers themselves. However, how these skills and dispositions are both applied and conceived vary as jobs and settings vary. As a result, the kinds of generic skills and work-related dispositions that many believe are necessary for new workplaces (outlined in Chapter Two) may reflect a true picture of generic skills at work, but the picture is not a simple one.
Our interviews and work observations enabled us to see how problems are defined in jobs, how workers apply skills to solve these problems, and how problem solving is construed by their community of practice. These problem-solving activities also illuminate other skill areas that we discuss later--team work, communications, and work-related dispositions.
Construction inspectors view their work as "quality assurance," where they must achieve quality standards. Their job as inspectors is to determine whether the construction is being accomplished as required by the job specifications. Specifications are legal documents that can be used to guarantee that construction is completed precisely as contracted. The specifications both guide their inquiry during "in-process" inspection (i.e., signal what to look for in a particular situation) and represent the quality standard--how the construction must be done--during "back end" inspection. A typical inspection problem occurs when an inspector finds some discrepancy between the specifications and the construction and then must identify the source of the discrepancy and how to get the error corrected. (As discussed in a later section of this chapter, an inspector needs particular communication skills to deal with discrepancies in a manner that does not slow down the job or create tensions with the contractors.) The following example from our field notes illustrates a problem situation:
A vice president of the contracting company and the lead inspector discuss a problem they must resolve: This morning a wall was poured before placing the rebar. [Rebar reinforces the wall, and reinforcement is particularly important in an underground subway station in an earthquake-prone area.] The inspector discussed the rebar with the foreman, but it was missed. When the inspector went back, they were completing the pour and he could see that the rebar was not in place. The lead inspector required that they replace the rebar. The vice president calls the design engineer on the speaker phone for advice on how to reduce disruption of other construction that is in compliance. They know they have to tear out the wall. They discuss alternatives, and decide to take the most conservative approach--chipping away the wall. The inspector asks for clarification on how the rework would be done so he can advise his inspectors. The lead inspector also gets a copy of the foreman's plans and notes, which show that the foreman discussed the placement in the notes but did not show it on the drawings. He tells the observer that this was a serious problem and that he will work to get that foreman off the job if he makes another mistake.
Robert asks the electricians to stop working momentarily while he visually inspects that the conduit they have just placed is the correct quality and size. The electricians continue and Robert returns to the office to check the plans for the electrical subcontractor. The foreman says his plans show conduits (in some areas), but Robert's plans do not. He checks to see if the plans have been changed or if changes are pending. Since they have not changed, he notifies the subcontractor's quality control chief to report the discrepancy. The quality control chief concurs that the subcontractor needs to comply, and promises to follow up with the foreman. Robert stops for a cup of coffee and a muffin while he writes notes. About fifteen minutes after Robert first inspected the conduit, he is ready to go back on site.
Quality control does not stop with construction, because damage of completed work is also a constant concern:
The inspector and the contractor's quality control chief discuss damaged conduit openings. A crane rolled over several of the metal projections that emerge at the floor level. The conduits house various cables, and their installation was completed and signed off. Now the cement subcontractor may be required to pay for the repair. The inspector writes notes in his book and will write a damage report when he returns to his office. He consults plans (kept folded inside his safety vest) and writes specifications and numbers into his notes. He shows the damage to the concrete subcontractor, who nods his head "yes." No one is very upset. The subcontractor had laborers directing the crane, but the area is quite small, so the "accident" occurred.
Construction inspectors must also be vigilant about safety, to prevent accidents that then become problems. There are many hazards in subway construction, and inspectors are constantly checking for and correcting small hazards (e.g., standing water or inadequate lighting) and life-threatening dangers (e.g., temporarily constructed walkways and roadways that can loosen and fall on workmen below). Contractors facing tight schedules--such as restoring a street over the weekend before Monday morning rush hour--may focus on speed and pay less attention to safety.
The work of survey inspectors is similar to that of construction inspectors in that both perform back-end quality control functions (e.g., checking the elevation and horizontal placement of the train tracks, as discussed in Chapter Two). Survey inspectors also have a quality assurance function: they measure precisely the proper location of various items of construction, and place stakes in the ground that guide and direct the construction. If done properly by the survey crew and complied with by construction workers, the survey can prevent errors that are costly to contractors and can potentially threaten public safety.
Survey inspectors themselves define their work as problem solving: "the nature of surveying, though, is that there are constantly new problems to solve." And since the survey is a legal document, and inspectors are responsible for the correctness of their measurement, the crew takes its work very seriously. Crew members describe their work as "exacting": there is no room for "guesswork."
In the following brief example, the crew is figuring out placement of manholes along a future trackway.
The chief informs the crew that their task for the morning is to move through the last section of the job and set stakes for the height of each manhole. The chief consults various sets of plans, looking for manholes. Three different types of manholes are located on different sets of plans, which contain references to still other maps, drawings, and elevations in the packet. Once the chief has identified all, he instructs the instrument man how to complete the elevation sheets. This includes precise labeling of each manhole, the elevation, and the distance from the selected control point. With the instrument man recording, the chief reads the name of the object and the location (referring to a scale on the base of the map). The instrument man reads the numbers back, while the rod man listens attentively to catch any errors. Once the manholes are located, the instrument man sets up the tripod and sights two vertical control points. The chief directs the rod man to the first targeted manhole, which is measured using the linker rod. The rod man labels the first stake with the proper height, and the chief drives it in.
Mapping from two-dimensional diagrams to the three-dimensional world is an important skill that surveyors must develop. They talk about the need to have an "algebraic mind" that enables them to see the big picture and determine if the calculations and subsequent markings of specific objects in the field are logically consistent with the whole construction project.
The supervisor showed me a manhole cover that was placed in a sidewalk gutter rather than the middle of the street. In his view, the surveyor, builder, and contractor all failed to ask themselves whether the placement "made sense." If they had thought this through, they probably would have checked the plans and found a more proper placement.
Unlike any of the other jobs we studied, survey inspection requires mathematical problem solving. A large portion of the chief's job is calculating the exact horizontal and vertical placement of objects in the field from two-dimensional plan specifications. The calculations can be straightforward or complex, depending on the situation. According to the chief, surveyors' math skills are in demand at the worksite, and contractors will often ask them to make calculations. This gives surveyors a feeling of autonomy at the worksite--"kind of like being our own bosses." Other professionals also call on surveyors to help solve problems.
A civil engineer called on the radio to ask a question about a staircase at a particular station. The top of a staircase was going to fall one inch short of the platform, and the engineer needed help in understanding why so he could craft a solution. Over the radio, without performing calculations, the chief was able to understand the problem being described. He formulated a hypothesis and made some simple calculations to confirm it. The chief told the observer that he recognized the problem from the description and used calculations to justify his assertions to the engineer.
The home health care worker is the "eyes and ears" of an extended patient care team, where each patient represents a "problem" that needs resolution. The aide or LVN deals with a particular patient's needs over the prescribed course of care through regular home visits. Depending on the patient, these visits generally occur once or twice a week for a nine-week period (although visits to diabetic patients can last six to nine months). We characterize their interactions with patients as "situation assessment" because, in addition to providing care, their role is to gather information about the patient's condition to report back to the case manager (usually a registered nurse) and to determine if the patient's condition warrants other than the currently prescribed action. Because each patient's situation is different--with respect to both medical and familial aspects--each case is unique. Thus, while the home health worker can follow standard protocols for gathering some information (e.g., patient weight, eating, sleeping, and medicating habits), she also has specific patient care tasks to carry out (e.g., bathing patients, changing bandages). She must also be on the lookout for any signs of physical abuse or deterioration, which she must report to the case manager.
Importantly, the home care worker must also assess and interpret the patient's current condition in the home care context. This home context provides clues for judging the information that the patient gives (or withholds) or for determining what aspects of the context assist or hamper the patient's care. Often patients are poor information sources because their illness affects their ability to think clearly or to report events accurately. Thus, the home care worker must get other information to help make an assessment and determine further action:
The big concern was that the patient had pulled off one of his toenails for no apparent reason. They [the home care worker and a family member] scolded him like a young child and kept asking him why he did it. But his explanation was impossible to understand. They spent several minutes talking about it, trying to figure out why and when he did it.
In the course of their visits, LVNs must also diagnose problems they encounter and educate patients and household caregivers in ways that assist proper treatment.
At this point, the wife said that sometimes her husband experiences tremors, but that on the bottle of his Ventolin [his asthma medicine], it lists tremors as a side effect. The aide asks about his dosage and if the tremors occur soon after he's taken the medicine. The response suggested that the Ventolin was not causing the tremors, and she made a note of the problem. She asked the wife whether they had told the doctor about these side effects. The wife responded that she had not. The aide advised her to discuss this with the neurologist at their next appointment.
Most of the time, equipment technicians at MPM and traffic signal technicians maintain and repair electronic equipment. The problem is defined as achieving desired equipment performance. When the equipment or system breaks down, the technicians must know how to troubleshoot--to identify the problem and fix it. When signal techs install new "beta" technology, the engineers who design the systems may not know how the equipment will perform in the field. Thus, techs must study wiring diagrams and work through problems to make the systems work.
The work context of each job places different constraints on troubleshooting. For traffic signal technicians, the pace of work is variable. It can be routine maintenance in the shop or field, or response to an emergency. Technicians face both routine and infrequent problem situations. They have to be familiar with various models of equipment (new electronic, cellular, or radar communications and older, simple electro-mechanical switches) and with various traffic management configurations (some of which include rail in addition to cars and pedestrians). Given these conditions, technicians feel that experience is the key to problem solving success:
"You can't understand what it's like to troubleshoot a problem in the field until you are out there at two o'clock in the morning in the rain, and there's smoke coming out of the pull box. You can't teach that."
Although equipment technicians at MPM do not have to work in inclement weather, they work with very sensitive equipment in "clean room" conditions where, for example, a small electric shock can burn a hole in a chip that might affect the performance of a multi-million dollar satellite. Technicians describe their work as stressful and fast-paced because "down time is money."[13] Since the manufacturing technology is changing rapidly, new equipment is always arriving, and its floor life can be as short as six months.
As discussed in Chapter Three, in both jobs the organization attempts to manage the maintenance and troubleshooting activities. At MPM, technicians input information into the semiconductor productivity network (SPN), which monitors the condition of the equipment by indicating when a machine is down and by keeping a maintenance and repair history. The traffic surveillance system monitors traffic movements at major intersections and reports failures. But since this system monitors only some of the intersections, problems may be identified by the public or over the radio by public service workers (e.g., police, firefighters). Because these reports--particularly those from the public--can be incomplete or inaccurate, signal techs may have difficulty predicting the problem they will face. Experienced techs have most intersections memorized and, as soon as the call comes in, will begin to anticipate what might be wrong at a particular intersection and how to fix it.
Experienced technicians in both lines of work emphasize the need for a problem solving strategy in addition to any technical skills required for effective troubleshooting. One equipment technician described problem solving in the following way:
"Your problem solving method--train of thoughts, the approach--is probably more important than their technical skill, what they know specifically. A lot of people know a lot about mechanics, chemistry, physics, and such, but when it comes to solving problems, they do not have the approach. Therefore, the knowledge they have is useless."
A signal technician supervisor described problem solving as "thinking in a logical sequence." And a technician noted that "troubleshooting procedures will save you a lot of time":
While driving out to the field, the observer asked the tech how he proceeds at a flashing intersection. The technician explained that he tried to be systematic in troubleshooting. First, he will check the current at the hand hole nearest the controller cabinet, which will direct him to the cabinet or the field as the source of the problem. If it's in the field, he moves to the opposite corner and tests to determine if the problem is on one side of the intersection or the other. Finally, he will look for ant damage or other sources of wire damage.
Rex hooked a conflict monitor up to several machines on his desk and opened up a manual and diagram. He explained that it was a good monitor, and as he ran it through various tests he wrote numbers down on the diagram. He referred to this procedure as "mapping out" the good monitor. He then compared the "good" numbers with those obtained by running the damaged monitor through the same sequence of tests. Rex said he used this technique frequently.
As mentioned above, technicians believe that experience is crucial to problem solving success. Experience enables technicians to develop a mental model of the system that helps them solve problems: "You kind of have to know how one thing affects the system. That's a good thing for troubleshooting."
Test technicians process batches of components that arrive with specific instructions about which tests must be conducted. Technicians must monitor the process of moving batches through the tests as well as performing the tests with the aid of various machines. As discussed below, these technicians manage the flow of work in their cell and are trained to operate all of the machines. When problems arise in this job and setting, they are typically associated with operating the test equipment. The following example describes how Henry, a new technician, solved a problem he faced.
Henry begins the testing by pulling out the plastic pouch containing the chips, the shop drawings, and some notes on the work that had been done thus far on the lot. He starts by counting the number of chips and, although two are missing, proceeds with the tests. He begins by pressing chips into the test board, but stops after three are mounted. He tells the observer that he is uncertain whether he has placed them in the proper orientation. He looks for Paul (acknowledged by the cell as the most expert technician), but he has walked away from the cell. Henry goes to the ovens to see if there is another board with similar chips in there, but there are none mounted. He returns to his work area and grabs the "fluke millimeter" tester and the chip design manual. He opens to the page for the chip in question, and lays one on the page in the same orientation as the diagram in the book. He uses the tester to connect between individual sockets on the test board, trying to figure out which circuits connect to each other. He compares the readouts on the tester to the specifications in the manual until he has confirmed the proper orientation of the chips. He then completes inserting the chips in the board.
In this example, Henry figures out a way to solve his problem when the most efficient solution--asking Paul for help--is not available. In this community of practice, technicians are expected to face and solve problems as a matter of routine. Like other technicians we studied, they believe expertise develops with experience. And, while all technicians can solve problems, "experienced people are expected to see and predict problems." Furthermore, according to their supervisor, the performance standard for test cell technicians rests on the team's problem solving capabilities, not on an individual's "units per hour" (a productivity measurement widely used in other firms and in other departments at MPM).
In the workplaces we studied, conceptions of teamwork ran the gamut from getting along with co-workers to specific relationships and roles between individual workers that were necessary for accomplishing the task at hand. Not surprisingly, the ability to get along with co-workers was valued in every job we examined. But "just getting along" is clearly an insufficient description of teamwork skills required for the work observed in this study. Rather, an effective team is comprised of members who have similar goals and standards for task completion.[14] As one traffic signal technician told us:
"If it's a team I can put together, we do excellent work. If it's a team I'm thrown together with, it's difficult because it's a lot slower process. There are some people who work together really good and some people that don't--that don't necessarily agree on quality of work and so forth. And it makes it difficult for me to do the type of work I want to do if they're not holding up their end."
We identified three overlapping aspects of team or group work that illustrate a variety of team arrangements and require different worker skills and behaviors (see Table 4.1).
First, the traditional conception of self-managing work groups generally characterizes teamwork in two jobs: survey inspectors and test cell associates. As discussed in the overview of jobs in Chapter Three, a party chief heads the survey team, which consists of himself (who organizes work and makes complex calculations), an instru-
Characteristics of Work Groups
| Job | Autonomous/ Self-Managing | Distributed Knowledge | Independent Work |
| Traffic signal technician | Shop work
Team for short-term problem solving (e.g., emergencies) | ||
| Home health aide/LVN | Patient care team with many specialists
Distributed authority | Patient care in home | |
| Test-cell associate | "Leaderless" team | Independently perform tests | |
| Equipment technician | May specialize in particular machines | Independently repair and maintain machines | |
| Survey inspector | Chief manages crew | Chief plus two instrument men | |
| Construction inspector | Construction specialty | Independent inspection, but informal, "virtual" team (see text) | |
ment man (who checks calculations), and a rod man (who moves equipment from point to point).
The Z1 Test Cell at MPM has four members who are cross-trained to perform all the tasks and operate all the equipment to complete final testing and quality certification on complex microprocessors. Each member of the cell works independently, running batches of chips through a sequence of tests. Managers describe the team as "leaderless" because it is unsupervised and requires team members to make decisions collectively to organize their own work. As discussed in the previous chapter, the team member with the most experience and education is often sought out to make decisions, train others, or help solve particular problems. The self-managing aspect of this team is evident in the following statement:
"If it's an issue that deals with work within our cell, then we try and discuss it among ourselves. And then that's passed along to our supervisor."
A second important characteristic of the work teams is the distribution of knowledge, skills, and sometimes authority among individuals. These teams can be formally recognized and supported by the organization, or informally constituted by team members themselves. The survey inspector team, for example, is composed of individuals of different rank and skill--with party chief as the acknowledged leader--and a survey expert who can perform all tasks and functions of the individual crew members. The crew members receive enough cross training to fill in for one another as needed, so that work can continue, albeit at a slower pace. The different roles are reinforced in the community of practice through union rules and regulations that designate both status and levels of skill or knowledge (e.g., journeyman or apprentice status).
At first glance, home health care providers and construction inspectors appear to be working independently to carry out specific jobs that align with their specialty. But home health providers are members of a large managed-care team, characterized by both distributed knowledge and authority linked to special certification. Knowledge is distributed among the various specialists that are part of the team--aides, doctors, nurses, physical or speech therapists, pharmacists, and so on. Similarly, different specialists or professionals have different levels of authority in the team related to their certification. Aides and LVNs, for example, are not permitted to perform several tasks in the nurses' domain, including initial patient assessment, plan of care, evaluation, and deciding whether or not a patient needs to continue with care. An agency supervisor acknowledges that not all of the home care staff have learned how to perform effectively in teams, but they continue to "push them toward that with some of the accountability."
Because of liability issues associated with health care and certification policies, the authority structure is formalized through work rules and procedures. As discussed below, for example, the aide must communicate with other health care professionals about events and issues that lie outside her own authority, and she must complete paperwork that contributes to a written record of each patient's case.
Construction inspectors perform their jobs as members of a "virtual" team which, in their minds, helps improve the quality and efficiency of the work. These inspectors have specialized knowledge (e.g., in concrete work, electrical work) that defines their individual inspection tasks; some are specialists in several disciplines. While each inspector makes rounds to inspect areas specifically related to his discipline, he is on the alert for activity in the other disciplines. When he spots a problem or potential problem or knows that the work has reached an inspection point, he contacts the appropriate inspector by radio. The virtual team is not a formal entity in the organization, but the creation of this community of practice in support of their high-quality work standards.
Finally, traffic signal technicians and test technicians (MPM) work independently, for the most part. Traffic signal technicians work independently in the shop: "a lot of what we do as techs, we do alone."[15] Work assignments by the supervisor are flexible: techs are generally assigned to zones that include approximately 110-130 intersections. Two techs work in the electronics shop, two assistant techs work in the "head" shop, and a three- to four-man construction crew is responsible for major knockdowns, new construction, and other major repairs. Field teams may form for short-term problem solving or specific activities--replacement of a control cabinet in the field, for example, is a two-person job. Traffic signal techs also team with others to respond to emergency situations. This teamwork is problem-focused and short-term.
As the following example illustrates, traffic signal technicians' work tends to be less specialized than work on other jobs. Whereas some technicians may spend more time in the shop because they prefer shop work and are good at troubleshooting repairs, as a group the technicians possess similar knowledge and skills, with some more expert than others. Expertise--or what the technicians call "common sense"--is usually equated with experience.
"Recently I had a problem when it was raining and we had all kinds of [warning] lights going on and simultaneously there were things that weren't supposed to be going on. I'd gotten down to the cabinet and I couldn't figure out what was going on in the cabinet, and I asked for somebody to come out there and give me a hand with it. Together, we spent another two to three hours trying to figure out what was going on. I often ask for people with a little more experience to come out and help. It's usually an emergency type condition that you need to ask for help."
The technicians' community of practice supports sharing of expertise when there is a problem to solve. If the problem is one that techs have not encountered before, they will come together as a group to diagnose the situation. They also regularly meet to "talk about what's going on." As we discuss further in Chapter Five, a community of practice that supports learning and sharing of expertise among its members is a vital source of training, particularly in firms that have few resources for formal training.
As described earlier, equipment technicians at MPM are responsible for repair and maintenance of sophisticated machines used to develop new microprocessor manufacturing technology. Work across shifts is coordinated through daily transition meetings, where technicians discuss which machines are down and what needs to be done. Techs work independently, first checking the semiconductor productivity network, and then performing various tasks. Techs also specialize in repair of particular machines that they know well. One particularly expensive and complicated machine at MPM has a designated technician assigned to watch over its operation.
Teaming to solve repair problems is temporary, flexible, and ad hoc. When a tech is having trouble with a machine, it's considered acceptable to leave the repair for someone on a later shift who is more expert at repairing that particular piece of equipment. A tech may also seek assistance from techs in other departments to troubleshoot repairs. If the techs repeatedly fail to make a repair, they notify their manager.
The repair work is independent, but operators will converse with technicians and call on them for help when a machine malfunctions. Like the traffic signal technicians, the equipment technicians in the group possess similar skills, with some specialization. Knowledge is distributed not by specialty--as in home health and construction or survey inspection--but by virtue of a technician's experience, which presumably gives him broader and deeper knowledge and skills than the newcomer.
As discussed in Chapter Two, there is little empirical research on dispositions, attitudes, or other "noncognitive" aspects of work behavior from sociocultural or other perspectives. We attempted to describe dispositions from our observations of workers and management in various worksites and then define themes that appear to cut across them.[16] This is a tentative step toward taking the social context of work into account, rather than simply declaring that worker "attitudes" are important.
Study participants were unanimous in believing that dispositions were critical to success. They frequently mentioned dispositions, as defined in Chapter Two (e.g., conscientious, self-directed, persistent, hard-working). Some respondents discussed feelings and interpersonal relationships, such as a sense of closeness or mutual respect, as being important qualities. We decided to incorporate these characteristics into our analysis as well. We identified and compared dispositions along three somewhat overlapping themes: task/organization, community of practice, and quality standards (see Table 4.2). Task/organization refers to dispositions related primarily to formal job characteristics, such as having to work in teams or accept supervision. This contrasts with dispositions that the community of practice defines as important, irrespective of the work organization or management's views. Finally, workers often discussed dispositions in relation to quality performance standards, as defined by the firm, norms of practice, or individual workers.
The survey crew discussed personal characteristics for their work across all three themes. First, because the task requires teamwork, they emphasized cooperation and the need to work together. But the survey crew also expressed a closeness and interdependence that other teams did not. They described their team as an "intimate situation," in which the members must rely on one another in an atmosphere of "mutual respect." One crew member discussed this in relation to a change in surveying practice:
"It's changed. In the old days it was a party chief, and he'd scream at the apprentices, and how it's just done the way it's done. Like [an] in-the-Army type thing. And today it's a lot more sophisticated, and it's more of a team and a mutual respect."
The party chief echoed this sense of interdependence and thus the need for a collaborative and cooperative attitude: "you want a crew that will back you up. You don't want somebody . . . trying to trip you up."
Dispositions and Other Characteristics
| Job | Task/Organization | Practice | Quality Standard |
| Survey inspector | Love a challenge Attention Cooperate Anticipate problems | Mutual respect Reliance Confidence Prepared to work | Professional standards Assume liability |
| Construction inspector | Manage people Plan ahead Deal with confrontation Independent | Know and do your own job Ask for help | Conscientious Vigilant Assume liability Integrity |
| Home health provider | Independent Tolerant of oversight Accept flexible scheduling | Friendliness "Bedside manners" Patience | Individual standard Professional standard Personal liability |
| Test cell technician | Flexible Willingness to do repetitive work Teamwork Willing to learn | Accurate and thorough | |
| Equipment technician | Independent Handle pressure "Man over machine" Flexible | Individual performance Affects productivity | |
| Traffic signal technician | Self-motivated Tolerant of variable pace | Don't pass problems off Don't slack off | Individual standard Assume liability |
Surveyors also identified several dispositions as crucial to success: "love a challenge," attention to detail, anticipate problems before they arise. As the head of the crew, the party chief also needs "interpersonal relations skills to handle the crew" and interactions with contractors on the job site.
Surveyors' emphasis on quality work, however, derives not so much from a desire to do a good job for the company (as with the equipment technicians at MPM) or to meet an individual standard (as with home health aides and LVNs), but from their professional standards as surveyors. Their sense of professionalism and professional standards sets up expectations that good surveyors, by definition, have a "go-for-it" attitude and will show extra effort by, for example, taking plans home to prepare for the next day's work or making calculations several ways to double-check their accuracy. A surveyor should have "confidence in his professionalism" and, at the same time, "always second-guess [himself]." If a decision or calculation is challenged, the surveyor should "assume he's wrong and go back and check it." And if he made a mistake, he must be "willing to take the heat." The conscientious emphasis on quality complements the fact that the survey is a legal document and the chief--and by extension the crew--is liable for its accuracy.
Construction inspectors also face liability issues and have concerns about quality that require them to have a conscientious attitude toward their work (i.e., have discipline necessary to read and understand and verify) and to be prepared to anticipate each inspection task--"he is one step ahead of the contractor instead of behind him":
At the closing of the wall, the "pace of the jobs seems to accelerate." As electricians make installations, carpenters follow as closely as possible to close things up. "I have to keep ahead of the carpenters and inspect the electrical work. Meantime, I have to watch the carpenters, who may take safety chances. I have to ensure that everything that has been installed has been inspected and re-inspected before that cement wall goes in."
The inspector's quality assurance role is sometimes in conflict with the contractors and subcontractors, whose incentives are to build in accordance with contract requirements and to make a profit doing so. Much of the construction inspectors' discussion of dispositions hinges on this tension. When problems arise, the inspector often needs negotiation skills (discussed below in the section on communications) and must "be able to deal with confrontation." To keep the job running smoothly, it is important that the inspector not "take personal feelings [about the contractor] into a work problem," but "learn how to present an issue without personal involvement." Even in the absence of problems, inspectors cite the need for interpersonal skills to communicate with people at different educational levels (from high school graduates to Ph.D.s) and different specialties.
Although construction inspectors do not use the term "profession" to describe their standard of practice, they define codes of behavior that are acceptable or unacceptable. As described above, a good inspector recognizes his quality assurance role and all that it entails. He is someone whose disposition is to "move around and do his inspections. He's not standing around with the foreman telling jokes and stories." Instead, the construction inspector feels obliged to know and understand the general plan, not just those associated with his specialty. Armed with this knowledge and disposition to be self-directed, the "team" of inspectors constantly alert each other of construction activities warranting each specialist's attention. At the same time, expert inspectors look down on others who, in their eyes, attempt to go beyond the boundaries of the job. Instead of inspecting according to the plans or asking for assistance interpreting the plans, they attempt to "redesign the work" by questioning what the engineers specified. This diverts attention from getting the job done.
Home health providers emphasized dispositions that reflect the organization of their work and the norms of the nursing profession. Because they spend most of their time visiting patients at home, they must be independent, hence self-directed, in their work habits. They must also be flexible, because their assignments and schedule can change quickly, and because each patient's particular needs determine how long each visit will take. Although home care providers must want to work independently, they must also be tolerant of oversight. The case manager has the authority to change visit schedules or even to direct providers to make visits outside their regular geographic area.
"You are the low man on the totem pole, so you have to follow. You're getting orders from everybody. You have to have that type of attitude. If you don't . . . you have to find another job."
This oversight appears to be a distinguishing factor of home care work. As one aide told us: "many colleagues don't like home health because they feel someone is looking over their shoulder." She also felt that some supervisory staff "are hard on you" and would advise a new employee to "cover your behind at all times, because this is the type of job that you can get dinged."
Home care providers stress interpersonal relations in their dealings with patients. Home care workers must be patient and friendly on the job and have good "bedside manners." Patients appreciate these characteristics:
I asked her generally about the services Sally (the LVN) provides, and the patient is very positive on Sally's work. She emphasizes the word "temperament," indicating that staff in senior centers often have negative attitudes, don't smile, provide snappy answers, and spend a lot of time telling patients about their problems. "Sick people don't need to hear about other peoples' problems."
Having bedside manners is more than being friendly and smiling, however. Home care providers stress the need to be sensitive to patients' concerns as "she is a visitor in the patient's home and does not want to intrude or otherwise upset them." While some patients do not want the provider out of their sight when in the home, others do not mind if she moves about freely.
Another aspect of bedside manners is providing care to people from different cultures and socioeconomic conditions. To be culturally sensitive, the home care provider must be able to adjust her practice to accommodate differences and show respect for the patient's needs.
Home care workers may also have to deal with prejudice toward their own racial or ethnic group. Agency policy permits a home care worker who confronts racial prejudice to refuse to provide service to that patient, but aides reported having resolved such situations on their own.
When home care providers discuss dispositions or feelings related to providing quality service, they emphasize individual standards as caregivers, not the broader "quality care" goals espoused by the health agency. Quality can be linked to a personal sense of pride or mastery--for example, if a provider chooses to work with patients who display prejudice toward her rather than be reassigned. Providing quality care requires the caregiver to "stay focused" and subordinate one's own feelings to serve the patient. One African-American provider expressed a preference for working with African-American patients because she feels competent in her knowledge of the culture and language and "understands where they're coming from." This connection, in her view, enables her to provide better-quality care.
Technicians at MPM did not discuss dispositions in terms of professional practice, but as requirements of the job. Both emphasized the need to be flexible and adaptable to change--organizational change for test cell associates and technology change for both. Interestingly, although the technicians characterized their work as variable and requiring one to "always learn new things," a human resources manager thought the jobs required "willingness to do repetitive work."
For test cell technicians, the most important dispositions are to work as part of the team, to be flexible in work assignments--on different machines, on different shifts, and sometimes on Saturdays--and to be "eager and willing to learn." Independence is less valued than teamwork because techs believe "two heads are better than one" in working through problems.
Test cell technicians and their supervisor discussed dispositions associated with quality in general terms. The supervisor, for example, discussed the need for some workers to develop a better "work ethic," which he defined as "care about the quality of their work."
Equipment technicians mentioned the need to deal with a high-stress environment and thought a "man over machine" attitude was important:
"I think you've got to kind of be a little cocky, that you're not gonna let some stupid machine beat you. A machine might have a computer-guided something--it might be a laser, it might be robotic--but it's still a machine. And it can't do anything unless I'm there. And it's gonna do what I tell it to do."
Similarly, techs thought it was important to be open-minded about the possible source of problems: "It's not always an electronic problem, but sometimes mechanical."
Equipment technicians in this department at MPM often discussed their work in terms of its effect on productivity. An attitude that recognizes the link between equipment maintenance and production is important: you need to "maximize the up time" and "keep production running."
Questions about work dispositions revealed some tensions in the traffic signal technician community. Technicians discussed the need to be tolerant of the variable pace of the job, where a normal slow pace is punctuated by emergency calls. Sometimes it's busy and sometimes not, so one periodically has "time on your hands" and must "deal with the ups and downs of the work flow." This requires technicians to be resourceful in finding work during down times. The job design requires that technicians work independently--they have shop work and a certain number of signals to maintain. Because their supervisors are often busy with other projects and have little time for oversight, they must be self-directed.
Technicians openly discuss how this work situation--little supervision and "time on your hands"--has developed a wide distribution of work dispositions: "We've got people from one extreme to the other and they're still getting by." As one tech explained:
"It's a self-motivated thing here. You're either productive or you're not, and it depends on you 100 percent. They do not have a system of forced work. They have a maintenance procedure . . . but no system for making sure that it is done. So if a person is a reliable, self-motivated individual, he'll . . . accomplish that as best he can. The other people don't, aren't motivated, will do the minimum that they can get away with."
The techs talk about the "A team" and the "B team"--a tech's attitude toward the work determines to which he belongs. The community of practice is bifurcated: techs on the "A team" speak with frustration about techs who "skate through and get away with it" because management tolerates their behavior and because "other people here are conscientious enough to do the job properly." If a tech "slacks off" and doesn't do maintenance or try to figure out a problem situation he encounters, then other techs end up having to deal with those problems later on. This can happen when emergencies arise, or when techs who are on top of their own assigned signals must work overtime to correct problems that other less-conscientious techs have ignored. For the "A team" techs, it is unacceptable to "not do a proper repair and leave it for the next guy."
The variation in dispositions of individuals can affect the whole department. If too much overtime is clocked--in part to make up for less conscientious technicians--then the department can be questioned or criticized by higher management about exceeding their budget. Experienced technicians become demoralized--they love the work but hate the job. When asked how he would describe the job to a new employee, one tech was of two minds:
The "work is neat. We have a long way to go as far as building morale in our particular department and making a work environment that you feel real comfortable about coming in . . ."
From the views of respondents in all three transportation management agencies, we can conclude that the traffic signal technician profession depends on motivated individuals who are willing to keep up with technology changes, including taking outside classes on their own time if necessary. Since specific courses or programs for training signal techs are rare, agencies and techs depend on on-the-job training to get beyond the basic skills and to learn to apply electronics knowledge to traffic signal work. Thus, it is particularly important for the community of practice to have healthy relationships--experienced technicians must work with newcomers to pass on their knowledge and skill and the working environment must support that relationship.
Finally, with respect to quality, techs view the lack of standards as a problem that creates different dispositions toward work and toward achieving quality standards.
"Some guys don't do anything unless they get a call. They're not doing their maintenance. I have a higher standard than they [management] have."
The techs' supervisors mentioned some dispositions that they looked for which were not mentioned by technicians themselves. While both thought a willingness to learn was important, supervisors wanted techs who were motivated to take classes on their own time. Techs, on the other hand, tended to discuss opportunities to learn on-the-job (e.g., finding an expert tech to work with and learn from) and were critical of colleagues who "don't want to get updated." (As we discuss in the next chapter, some techs complained that management would not give them the time off to take courses they wanted to take.) Managers also want "flexible" techs who are willing to work in the field and in the shop: "We find a lot of guys who are well-educated don't care to go out and do that kind of [field] work."
As we indicated in Chapter Two, we examined the application of communication skills along four traditional axes: audience (who is communicated with); purpose (why they are communicated with); style (the way in which the communicator presents himself or herself); and mode (the means by which the communication is accomplished). Table 4.3 summarizes our findings.
The workers we studied needed to be able to communicate effectively with audiences that differed on several major dimensions. An important distinction for frontline workers was internal versus external audiences--members of their own firms versus members of the public, including their firm's customers. Communication with patients and their families was a central part of the job of home health providers. Traffic signal engineers working in the field often had to communicate with motorists, the "customers" of the traffic signal system, who were not always in the best of moods; they also were called upon infrequently to provide testimony in court during suits in which the maintenance of intersections became an issue. Indeed, the primary audience for the engineers' maintenance logs was not their supervisors, but members of the legal profession involved in litigation with the city. This accounted for the strong emphasis, second only to the emphasis on safety itself, on accurate recordkeeping.
Communications Activities by Job
| Job | Audience | Purpose | Style | Mode |
| Home health aides | Patients and family members
Other health care professionals | Elicit and provide information Provide instructions | Amicable professional demeanor | Face-to-face conversation Telephonic conversation Written records |
| Traffic signal engineers | Other traffic signal engineers Workers in other departments Motorists Courtroom participants Supervisors | Provide information Provide instructions Request assistance | Amicable yet professional demeanor with public Fluent English important | Face-to-face conversation Radio transmission Testimony Written records and forms |
| Construction inspectors | Other inspectors Contractors and construction workers | Provide information Provide instructions Negotiate | Amicable yet professional demeanor Bilingual Spanish/English useful | Face-to-face conversation Written reports |
| Survey inspectors | Other survey crew members Construction workers | Provide information Provide instructions | Collegial manner | Face-to-face conversation Meetings Radio transmission |
| Test cell finish associates | Other test cell members Selected workers in other units | Provide information Schedule tests Provide assistance with procedures | English speaking less important because cells are grouped by primary language of most members | Face-to-face conversation Tracking sheets |
| Equipment technicians | Other test technicians Operators of machinery | Solve problems collectively Provide instructions on how to use machines | Face-to-face conversation Operating instructions Written logs (hard copy and on-line) | |
With the possible exception of home health aides, most workers communicated chiefly with internal audiences--members of their work group, co-workers, and supervisors. Construction and survey inspectors, for instance, communicated regularly with other inspectors as well as with contractors. Home health providers communicated with a variety of health professionals involved with the same patients, particularly nurses and social workers.
Finally, the workers in our study communicated with single individuals or small groups; their responsibilities did not include communicating to large groups (for example, leading meetings or giving presentations).
In both speech and writing, the most common purpose for communications skills was to convey an appropriate fact accurately. Home health providers report on the status of patient functioning and log their own activities, including facts such as mileage driven. Traffic signal technicians call in to order parts and maintain scrupulous maintenance records that may be subpoenaed. Construction inspectors communicate requirements, deficiencies, and approvals. Survey inspectors call out measurements.
The second most common purpose was to convey procedural information--instructions. Home health providers instruct patients and their family members. Construction inspectors tell contractors how to meet specifications and gain approvals. Equipment technicians write instructions for machine operators to lessen their maintenance burden.
In these communications of fact and procedure, accuracy is the most valued quality. Speed is also valued: time is money. Clarity is highly valued, including fluent pronunciation and legible writing, because lack of clarity hurts both accuracy and speed. The following quotation from a traffic signal engineer evidences the value he places on accuracy, brevity (i.e., speed), and clarity:
We have radio communication. We have to be able to briefly explain what we want. [Say] I need an "eight-inch head and a round vac JVC box with a center hole." That's something that comes up, and you have to explain what you want . . . and you have to understand what they're saying, too.
We observed that an amicable but professional demeanor was highly valued in all spoken communications. Such a demeanor was perceived to contribute to both the speed and quality of the communications by improving the ability and willingness of the listener to engage in communication. This was particularly important on jobs that required the worker to communicate directly with the public--such as the home health workers and, to a lesser extent, the traffic signal technicians. These audiences often included individuals who were hostile or uncommunicative for other reasons, perhaps in part because they were not themselves in a work context. A friendly self-presentation was also particularly valued in the work of construction inspectors, who frequently needed to negotiate with contractors to ensure that work proceeded as planned and per specifications. As one inspector told us, "it's basically a matter of communication, how you need to talk to the contractor and subcontractors . . . I think that the most important part of our job is to communicate." Without effective negotiation skills, inspectors risk violating the public trust in two ways; either by approving construction that is sloppy or does not meet specifications, or by creating conflict with the construction teams that may contribute to errors.
Although all these workers had jobs in fields that had been recently infused with technological advances, neither their spoken nor written communications showed much reliance on advanced technology. Oral communication was accomplished primarily in person and secondarily by phone; most written communication was written by hand (even if it were eventually to be entered on-line by others). Forms were the most common technological adjunct to written communication on the job. All of these jobs required recordkeeping using forms.
Only the test cell associates and equipment technicians at MPM were observed to keep records on a computer (also using forms). Others--health agency and transportation construction--anticipate implementing electronic forms in the future.
In this chapter we have offered a detailed description and analysis of four areas of generic skills and work-related dispositions that are used on the job by the workers whom we observed. We have shown that these skills and dispositions figure prominently in the accomplishment of their work and that workers recognize the important contribution that such skills make to their performance. We have also demonstrated that, though generic in some senses, these skills nevertheless are used in quite specific ways on each job; accordingly, requirements for each can vary widely from one job to another. Finally, we have demonstrated that these skills, though sometimes distinguishable in theory, are in practice typically found together, suggesting that their contribution to the effective performance of work should be understood synergistically.
[13]Recent growth, which produced a shortage of technicians in this area, also contributed to the stressful nature of the job.
[14]Similarly, a recent study of unit cohesion in the military distinguished between social cohesion (e.g., liking or getting along with others) and task cohesion, and concluded the following: "It is not necessary to like someone to work with them, so long as members share a commitment to the group's objectives" ( Sexual Orientation and U.S. Military Personnel Policy: Options and Assessments, RAND, MR-323-OSD, 1993, p. 330).
[15]In the shop, technicians have discretion over their day-to-day work. One tech, for example, "saves up" until he gets several items of the same type (e.g., conflict monitors). He works on these for a week or two, then switches to the next item.
[16]The interviews prompted all respondents to discuss skills needed in the target jobs. In addition, as part of the cognitive task analysis, we asked frontline workers to discuss the attitudes and dispositions at work that served individuals well or poorly.