Job Aids (with Examples)

Like this site? Let others know!
Tweet

“A job aid is a repository for information, processes, or perspectives that is external to the individual and that supports work and activity by directing, guiding, and enlightening performance.”
                                 —Rossett and Gautier-Downes, A Handbook of Job Aids, p. 45.

Looking for samples? Here's a zip file containing a variety of sample job aids: jobaids.zip

Job Aids in General

	A one-page guide to job aids Job Aids Job Aid - (.doc) (.pdf)
	The generic cube described in a Simages article: template (.doc) (.pdf).

Agile Software

	XP on One Page
	Java Coding Standard on a Page
	XP Programmer's Cube
	Scrum on a Page
	Configuration Management on a Page

Paper Toys

These job aids were developed for the session “Paper Toys that Teach” at NASAGA '03:

	Cutouts (.doc) (.pdf) - Interesting objects to make with paper.
	Flexagons (.doc) (.pdf) - Paper with a surprising number of sides. (Print on legal size paper and cut into a flexagon to use.)
	Origami (.doc) (.pdf) - The art of folding paper.
	Pop-Ups (.doc) (.pdf) - Paper that becomes three-dimensional when opened.
	Tessellations (.doc) (.pdf) - How to tile a plane.
	Up-Pops (.doc) (.pdf) - Self-opening pop-ups.
	Up-Pops Calendar Template (.doc) (.pdf)

Further Reading

A Handbook of Job Aids, Allison Rossett and Jeannette Gautier-Downes. Pfeiffer, 1991.

There aren't a lot of reference books on job aids, but this is my favorite among those I've seen. It presents a variety of types of job aids, along with guidelines for when to use them.

The Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande. Metropolitan, 2009.

This book is an expansion of Gawande's interesting New Yorker article. It's an exploration of how the relatively simple idea of a checklist can be used to ensure that complicated things get done well. What works for pilots also works well for surgery. I thought the article was enough to get the idea, but the book was an interesting read for more depth.

Mapping Inner Space, 2/e, Nancy Margulies with Nusa Maal. Zephyr Press, 2002.

Margulies and Maal presents techniques for visual maps, a version of mind maps. You can certainly learn the basics without this book, but it makes great use of color and has lots of examples of maps and symbols.

Reinventing the Wheel, Jessica Helfand. Princeton Architectural Press, 2002.

This is a picture book of volvelles, wheel calculators. You typically set a pointer to a particular value, and windows or the edge of the wheel reveal an answer. If you have any interest in job aids, or pre-computer calculators, you will enjoy the history and pictures this book contains.

Web Sites

xp123.com - Extreme Programming and Agile Software

Of special interest may be reviews in the areas of training and learning.

thiagi.com - Games for training

Your Host

Bill Wake is a software consultant with a focus in agile methods such as XP and Scrum, and interests in design, games, and music.

Bill works for Industrial Logic, home of great e-learning in test-driven development, refactoring, user stories, and more.

Bill's professional site is at <xp123.com>, and his personal site is at <billwake.com>.