Back to Work, Back to Joy
When you think about the work you do you probably focus on the defining qualities of it, the things that make it different from other jobs. If you are a firefighter, you may think about rescuing people and putting out fires. But you also spend a lot of time taking care of equipment, training and just being ready. If you have a lawn service there is the mowing but you also spend time invoicing. Most jobs are like this — including environmental health inspections. In this case, the inspection itself is the core part of the job but there is often a lot of paperwork and extra work that comes with it.
But is this the way it should be? Is all the extra (paper) work what we really want to spend our time doing? Probably not. The answer is process and smart software.
The Power of Process
The power of a good process cannot be underestimated. When something has been done enough times, a process develops. When things don’t work, they are removed or modified until they work better. This is where we get best practices. The presence of a good process means we don’t have to think about what to do each time, we just do it. Forms for health inspections are process made tangible. They clearly define the requirements and make sure nothing is missed. You, the inspector, are left to perform keen observation and analysis.
Put the Computers to Work
The whole promise of computing has been to do the monotonous work that humans can’t do as well. If you are filling out a paper form, returning to the office and then scanning and reentering into a different system, you’re doing it wrong. But you probably already knew that which is why you’re reading this.
When smart software helps us do our work, it takes the extra work off our shoulders and lightens the load. We as humans are then left to focus on the human parts of the job like observing, interaction with people and the environment and then communicating findings in understandable ways.
Bring the Joy
The great benefit of reducing the administrative work is that it brings us back to the reasons we started the work in the first place. It keeps the work interesting. It is the work that is closest to helping and serving people. Together, let’s get back to doing the real work and do away with the monotony.
