Work Instructions vs Job Aids (and Guidelines)

Unless you use terms like "SOPs", "work instructions" and "job aids" regularly, you could be forgiven for thinking they are all the same. In reality, there are several types of directional material that govern the way companies, departments and individual employees work, and each provides value in a different way. Below we look at how job aids and work instructions differ, and where guidelines fit.

What are work instructions?

If SOPs set out the "what" and "who" of a job, work instructions tell you "how". These step-by-step instructions tend to be department- or job-specific and explain how to carry out a specific task within an SOP. For example, a work instruction explains how to carry out a maintenance check on a machine. They are specific, sequential and, ideally, as visual as possible. Most companies have work instructions to some extent, but many could use more thorough ones that are easier to follow.

An example: A maintenance work instruction gives step-by-step instructions for the weekly, monthly and annual checks on a piece of equipment. The work instruction aligns with a preventive maintenance SOP.

What are job aids?

A job aid is a specific piece of material intended to help someone carry out a task more effectively. Well-written job aids save time, increase accuracy and improve performance. A work instruction can count as a job aid in some situations, but job aids cover more than directions: checklists, labelled photographs of equipment parts, reference tables, diagrams and any other supporting material that helps someone complete a task. Most businesses already have job aids, but complex technical tasks often need better ones.

Job aids deliver just the right information at the right time. They don't replace the work instruction; they support it at the moment of doing the work.

An example: A labelled diagram of a machine is a job aid. It supplements the work instruction that explains how to carry out the preventive maintenance SOP.

What are guidelines?

Guidelines are general recommendations that describe good practice and set a framework for how work should be approached. They help make people's actions more predictable and consistent, but they are not step-by-step.

• A guideline is not mandatory; it is a recommended best practice.
• It gives direction rather than exact steps, leaving room for judgement.
• It can change more often than policies and standards, and should be reviewed more frequently.

Many people write work instructions and call them guidelines, or the other way round. The test is simple: if the document tells someone exactly which steps to follow, in which order, it is a work instruction. If it describes principles and leaves the method to the person, it is a guideline.

Conclusion

Your company needs all of these, but may not have them. SOPs often go unwritten or out of date because no one has time to maintain them. Work instructions are often drafted when someone is asked to "document what you do", and the results are inconsistent or incomplete. Knowing which type of document you're writing makes it easier for staff to know what to expect and where to look.

Where REWO fits

REWO Guides turn video, images and text into step-by-step work instructions with approval and version history, and REWO Forms cover checklists. Book a demo if you want to see how it works.

Read next: Standard work instructions and SOPs · The complete guide to work instructions · What are quality checklists?