with the management. It is, after all, more or less an attitude of mind which he gains Page 191 by making out these records himself. It is because of this attitude of mind, and of the value which it is to him, that he is made to make out his own record under the ultimate form of management, even though at times this may involve a sacrifice of the time in which he must do it, and although he may work slower than could a specialist at recording, who perhaps would, in spite of that, be paid less for doing the work.
Exact Knowledge Valuable. — We cannot emphasize too often in this connection the far-reaching psychological effect upon the worker of exact knowledge of the comparative efficiency of methods. The value of this is seldom fully appreciated; for example, we are familiar with the many examples where the worker has been flattered until he believes that he cannot make mistakes or do inefficient work. This is most often found where the glowing compliments to the manufacturing department, found in the advertising pages of the magazine and in the praises sung in print by the publicity department, oftentimes ends in an individual overconfidence. This unjustified self-esteem is soon shattered by accurate comparative records.
On the other hand, hazing of the new worker and the sneers of the jealous, accompanied by such trite expressions as — "You can't teach an old dog new tricks," have often destroyed self-confidence in a worker, who, in the absence of accurate records of his efficiency, is trying to judge himself at new methods. The jibes and jokes at the new man at the new work, and especially at the experienced, efficient man at unfamiliar Page 192 work cease, or at least are wholly impotent, so far as discouraging the man is concerned, provided the worker sees by the records of a true measuring device, or method, that his work compares favorably with others of the same experience, made under the same conditions.
Definition of Programme. — The word "programme" is defined by the Century Dictionary as "a method of operation or line of procedure prepared or announced beforehand. An outline or abstract of something to be done or carried out."
Two Meanings of "Programme" in Management. — The word "programme" has two meanings in management.
- the work, as it comes to the management to be done
- the work as it is planned out by the managers, and handed over to the worker to be done.
Programme as here used is a plan for doing work, the plan which the planning department lays out and hands over for the performers, or the workers, to do.
Under Traditional Management No Accurate Programme Is Possible. — Under Traditional Management the plan is at best a repetition of records of unscientifically planned work. The most that the managers can hope to do is to lay out the time in which they expect, after consulting previous elapsed time records, the work to be done. Methods are not prescribed, so there is no assurance that the calendar will be followed, for the times are set by guess, or at best by referring to old unscientifically made records.
Under Transitory Management Calendars Can Be Designed.
— Under Transitory Management, with the introduction of systems, that is, records of how the work has been done best at various times, come methods and a possibility of a more exact calendar. There is some likelihood under Transitory System of the work being done on time, as the method has been considered and, in many cases, is specified.