Job task
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A job task (or, simply, task) is the smallest distinctive piece of work that is assigned to one worker or a group of interdependent individuals working together in order to be finished, usually, within a certain time.
Definitions
According to the PMBOK Guide,
- Task. A generic term for work that is not included in the work breakdown structure, but potentially could be a further decomposition of work by the individuals responsible for that work. Also, lowest level of effort on a project.
According to the BABOK Guide (3rd edition),
- Task (business analysis). A discrete piece of work that may be performed formally or informally as part of business analysis.
Applications
In effort administration, the task is the smallest enterprise effort. In Agile methodology, the task is a single unit of work broken down from a user story. In project management, the task is a generic term for work that is not included in the work breakdown structure, but potentially could be a further decomposition of work by the individuals responsible for that work. The task is usually completed by just one person and is a part of an activity.
- Task performance. The combination of effectiveness and efficiency at doing core job tasks.
- Task structure. One of Fiedler's situational contingencies that describes the degree to which job assignments are formalized and structured.
- Task attribute.
- Consequence of error. How serious would the result usually be if the worker made a mistake that was not readily correctable?
- Degree of automation. How automated is the job?
- Freedom to make decisions. How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer?
- Frequency of decision-making. How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization?
- Impact on enterprise. What results do your decisions usually have on other people or the image or reputation or financial resources of your employer?
- Importance of being accurate. How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job?
- Importance of repeating same tasks. How important is repeating the same physical activities (e.g., key entry) or mental activities (e.g., checking entries in a ledger) over and over, without stopping, to performing this job?
- Level of competition. To what extent does this job require the worker to compete or to be aware of competitive pressures?
- Time pressure. How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines? How important is it to this job that the pace is determined by the speed of equipment or machinery? (This does not refer to keeping busy at all times on this job.)
- Work schedule. How regular are the work schedules for this job and what is the number of hours typically worked in one week?
- Work virtualization. The degree to which work is done remotely rather than at some specific physical location.
