Games People Play with Work Sampling

Guidelines and principles are presented for planning and implementing a work sampling program. Principles to be followed include careful planning to fulfill objectives, the need to be responsive to changing needs and conditions, the requirement for strong program leadership, and the need to implement changes. It is suggested that work sampling should be used as a means of communicating information much in the same way as cost account data are used. Planning and implementation as a joint venture between owner, construction manager, contractor, and labor is suggested. The role of the project director in establishing and maintaining acceptable levels of performance by the observers is also presented. Sources of errors in the data are discussed along with the problems of superficial data analysis. Several difficulties with continuous sampling programs are also noted.