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At the turn of the 20th century when industry became interested in the efficiency of labor, the young wives of two efficient engineers brought the idea of improving work methods into the home under various names, the last of which was work simplification. The work can be simplified by applying the ‘scientific management’ process with in and outside the home. Scientific management tells us how to analyze different jobs and identify where the inefficiency lies.
Anyone who is trying to lower time and energy expenditures soon learns the value of improving methods of work, because the time and energy required to do any task depend largely on the hand and body motions used. Improvement in the performance of a task usually means that the work is made easier because the new method is a more convenient one, permitting smooth, natural and rhythmical motions.
The term work simplification as used in the home is of a more for reaching nature than in industry and may even include omitting a task in its entirety. For example a bakery might apply work- simplification techniques to the method of making apple pies, but would not question making them as long as they have a profitable market. A home maker might similarly simplify her method of making an apple pie, but she might further simplify the task of preparing a dessert by making no apple pie but substituting baked apples. This latter in a fundamental sense is also work simplification.
The primary purpose of work simplification is to develop techniques that will reduce the allocation and minimize the use of your resources. The goal is to produce the highest degree of satisfaction with the least expenditure of resources while yielding the most desirable outcome.
The initial application of the principles of industrial work simplification to the household was done by Lillian Gilbreth who worked closely with her husband, Frank. Following his death, she and Christine Frederick continued this work. These two women were the forerunners of work simplification for the home.
In devising work simplification techniques one needs to become aware of the relationship of space, equipment, materials and supplies, physical structure and motion to the task being under taken. The knowledge of these relationships, one to another, assists in developing techniques to reduce or minimize resource consumption.
As long as the experienced homemaker is content with her daily activities and is able to complete her tasks without undue fatigue she has no reason to be concerned with work simplification. However, the woman who is bowed down with work either because she is gainfully employed or has heavy family responsibilities or the elderly woman and the incapacitated woman need work simplification.
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