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Scientific management is the brainchild of Frederick Winslow Taylor. In its simplest form the theory asserts there is one best way to do a job and scientific methods can be used to determine that "one best way"
This diagram captures the 5 scientific management guidelines from Taylor's Scientific Management Theory
Taylor developed his theory through observations and experience as a mechanical engineer. As a mechanical engineer Taylor noticed that the environment lacked work standards, bred inefficient workers and jobs were allocated to people without matching the job to the worker's skill and ability. In addition to this the relationship of the workers with the managers included many confrontations.
Scientific Management Guidelines
Over a 20 year period Taylor devised the "one best way" to do each of the jobs on the shop floor. He then concluded that prosperity and harmony for both workers and managers could be achieved by following the five guidelines below:
- Develop a science for each element of an individual's work, which will replace the old rule of thumb method.
- Scientifically select and then train, teach and develop the worker.
- Heartily cooperate with the workers so as to ensure that all work is done in accordance with the principles of the science that has been developed.
- Divide work and responsibility almost equally between management and workers.
- Management takes over all the work for which it is better fitted than the workers (rather than most of the work and responsibility being assigned to the workers).
A well known example of the scientific management theory is the pig iron experiment. Iron was loaded onto rail cars by workers each lot weighing 92 pounds and known as a "pig". On average 12.5 tons were loaded onto the rail cars but Taylor believed that scientific management could be used to increase this to 47/48 tons per day. Through experimenting with various procedures and tools Taylor achieved this. This is how he did it:
- Taylor ensured that he matched each of the jobs to each of the workers skills and abilities.
- Taylor ensured that he provided the workers with the correct tools.
- Taylor ensured that he provided workers with clear instructions about how to do each job. Taylor ensured that the workers understood the instructions and then Taylor ensured that the workers followed the instructions exactly as he had explained.
- Taylor then created worker motivation by providing a significantly higher daily wage.
It is believed that through the use of scientific management Taylor increased productivity on the shop floor by 200 percent. Taylor's ideas and thoughts were adopted throughout the world including in France, Russia and Japan. In today's world scientific management has been merged with other ideas and is used by managers in the form of time and motion studies to eradicate wasted motions, incentive schemes based on performance and hiring the best qualified workers for each job.
By Indeed Editorial Team
Updated December 29, 2020 | Published December 12, 2019
Updated December 29, 2020
Published December 12, 2019
You may work in a managerial role at some point in your career and need to make crucial decisions about operations to increase efficiency. Using scientific management in the workplace can help you streamline workflow and increase productivity. It can also help you think critically about work processes and experiment with new methods to find what best suits the organization. In this article, we discuss the principles of scientific management and how they can be applied in the workplace.
Related: Management Skills: Definition and Examples
What is scientific management?
Scientific management, also called Taylorism, is the application of Frederick Taylor’s theory to the workplace to improve economic efficiency. Taylor published “The Principles of Scientific Management” in 1911, which explains his process of using scientific studies to analyze, optimize and standardize workflow.
Scientific management can be summarized in four main principles:
Using scientific methods to determine and standardize the one best way of doing a job
A clear division of tasks and responsibilities
High pay for high-performing employees
A hierarchy of authority and strict surveillance of employees
How to apply scientific management in the workplace
You can use the principles of scientific management in the workplace by following these steps:
1. Analyze work processes
You can help determine the most efficient way of completing a task by experimenting with several different methods to find out which method takes the least amount of time and the fewest steps to complete. Scientific management takes these findings and standardizes the most efficient way of doing the task, retraining employees as needed.
2. Define and delegate tasks
Instead of assigning one employee to do a variety of tasks or complete a project from start to finish, managers can break up complicated projects by assigning employees to one specific task. This will allow the employee to become efficient at completing their part of the project. The next step is assigned to the next employee until the project is completed.
3. Use employees’ skills and offer incentives
Company managers should strive to recognize employees’ skills and assign employees to tasks best suited to their talents so they can be as productive as possible. Managers can establish goals for productivity and provide bonuses or raises to high-performing employees who consistently meet or exceed those goals.
Managers and supervisors can also evaluate employees’ performance and provide feedback by conducting a performance review.
4. Establish a professional hierarchy
Ensuring that each employee understands what is expected of them and who to report to can help define a workplace’s hierarchy. Employees without supervisory roles should answer to their supervisors. Supervisors should report to company managers who answer to the company’s directors. The manager’s primary role is to establish the work process and spend their time training employees, planning and overseeing work while employees follow managers’ direction and complete tasks.
Examples of scientific management in the workplace
Though Taylor originally developed the scientific management theory for manufacturing jobs, you can use these principles in many industries to help you streamline complicated processes and increase productivity. Here are two examples of scientific management in the workplace:
Example 1:
Lee has taken over the role of operations manager at a small clothing company with growing online sales. The company has recently rented space in a warehouse to store merchandise and mail out orders. The office manager, Sarah, is currently responsible for all aspects of customer service and order fulfillment but is no longer able to handle the high volume of orders by herself.
Lee recognizes Sarah’s skills in customer service and assigns her the role of head of client care, responding to customer inquiries about orders and returns. He hires two part-time employees to assist in customer service and has Sarah train them.
Lee searches for an employee to take over the responsibilities of order fulfillment. He notices that a sales associate named Tyrone demonstrates strong attention to detail and promotes him to inventory and order fulfillment supervisor. Lee and Tyrone test whether it is best to process orders as they come in or let them accumulate to process them in batches. They conclude that processing one large batch of orders received the previous day to ship out the following day is the most efficient way of fulfilling orders. Lee announces to the company that he will give a $25 bonus to each team member in customer care and shipping for every 1,000 orders they process and ship.
When some employees continue to go to Sarah with questions about order fulfillment, Lee sends out an email to remind staff of Sarah and Tyrone’s separate roles. Lee also meets with Sarah to encourage her to stop answering employee questions about inventory and direct those questions to Tyrone. The company can respond to customers more quickly and fulfill twice as many orders per day.
Lee has used the principles of scientific management to analyze the best way of handling orders, break up tasks, give incentives to employees and establish the hierarchy within the company.
Example 2:
Joanna is the manager of a museum’s marketing team that is primarily responsible for promoting exhibitions and events. In the previous event season, Joanna assigned each team member the full responsibility of managing the promotion of one event. Despite holding regular team meetings to share progress, Joanna found inconsistencies throughout the event season in the brand’s voice in the event copy, quality of graphic design, external partner support and answers the marketing team provided in response to registration inquiries.
For the upcoming event season, Joanna decides to break up these responsibilities so that each marketing team member has one essential task for each event. She observed where individual team members excelled during last year’s event season and assigns roles based on their skills and competence.
She appoints one team member the responsibility of writing copy, one the task of graphic design, one the task of networking with external partners to promote the event and one the task of managing event registrations. She creates detailed guides for each team member to define how to adhere to brand standards in each role.
She continues to hold meetings with the group to communicate and provide support. She also conducts individual meetings with employees who need extra guidance. By the second event of the year, it is clear that the new division of responsibilities is more productive, the process is more streamlined and each team member is more skilled and confident in their role.
At the end of the event season, she meets with individual team members to do performance reviews. She gives all team members a bonus for the work they have done and a pay raise to team members who excelled in their work.
Joanna is using the principles of scientific management by finding the best way to divide a complicated process, clearly defining what is expected of each employee, providing incentives for completing good work and overseeing the process as manager.