Business management device, method, and program

Abstract

A business management device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: an acquisition unit that acquires work time information indicating the change in a time series of time required for routine work of which an operator is in charge; and a business management unit that, in a period indicated by a model which makes the time required for the routine work appropriate and which defines a rest period in which routine work is not carried out, manages the routine work as rest work in the rest period defined by the model when the time required for the work acquired by the acquisition unit tends to increase.

Description

Business management device, method and program

[0001] The present invention relates to a business management device, a method, and a program.

[0002] For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology that can grasp the work details performed by workers engaged in field work and desk work. Here, work information of a worker W, such as his / her actions and location, is continuously acquired and accumulated during work hours from an operation log, which is an input result from a work terminal, and from detection results from sensors. The work terminal is a mouse, a keyboard, etc., and the sensors are an infrared sensor, a pressure sensor, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor, etc.

[0003] In Patent Document 1, the person involved in the work inputs the details of the tasks that the worker is scheduled to perform, and the worker inputs the time of the scheduled work schedule and the details of the tasks to be completed at the start and end of the work.The results of the input are then compared with pre-registered and defined work characteristics to estimate the work performed during a specific time period, and if the comparison is not possible, it is determined that an unregistered task was performed.

[0004] Information on the determined performed tasks, such as time periods and content, is stored in a database (DB), making it possible to extract tasks that are performed frequently and providing material for considering work efficiency improvements and automation.

[0005] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-144846

[0006] Generally, when workers perform routine tasks (sometimes referred to as "routine tasks"), the repetition of monotonous tasks can cause their psychological state to shift from a state of interest, in which they perform the task with enthusiasm, to a state of boredom, in which they perform the task with reduced motivation. When the worker's psychological state shifts to the boredom state, the amount of time spent on the task increases compared to when the worker was in an interest state, significantly reducing productivity. A common countermeasure to boredom is the "distancing from the task" method, which takes advantage of the human tendency to forget, i.e., escape from saturation. In this method, boredom is roughly identified based on the increase in work time, and a rest period from the routine task is set qualitatively, either subjectively or objectively.

[0007] However, if the rest period for a routine task set subjectively or objectively as described above is too short, an unsatisfactory rest period will be set, and if the rest period for a routine task set is too long, an excessive rest period will be set. If inefficient rest is induced in this way, productivity may decrease.

[0008] This invention was made in light of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a work management device, method, and program that enables appropriate breaks to be taken from routine work.

[0009] A work management device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires work time information showing changes over time in the time required for routine work performed by a worker, and a work management unit that manages the routine work as work subject to rest during the rest period set by the model when the time required for the work acquired by the acquisition unit tends to increase during a period indicated by a model in which rest periods during which routine work is not performed are set, thereby adjusting the time required for the routine work.

[0010] A work management device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires work time information indicating changes over time in the time required for routine work performed by a worker, and a work management unit that manages the routine work performed by the worker as work for which rest is required when the period in which the worker can perform routine or non-routine work is available is shorter than the shortest time required for the routine work performed by the worker as indicated by the work time information acquired by the acquisition unit.

[0011] A work management method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a method performed by a work management device, and includes the steps of: acquiring, by an acquisition unit of the work management device, work time information indicating changes over time in the time required for routine work performed by a worker; and managing, by the work management unit of the work management device, the routine work as a work subject to rest during a rest period determined by a model in which the time required for the work acquired by the acquisition unit tends to increase, so as to adjust the time required for the routine work.

[0012] A work management method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a method performed by a work management device, and includes the steps of: acquiring, by an acquisition unit of the work management device, work time information indicating changes over time in the time required for the routine work performed by the worker; and managing, by the work management unit of the work management device, the routine work that the worker is responsible for as a work subject to rest when the period in which the worker can perform routine work, either routine work or non-routine work, is shorter than the shortest time required for the routine work performed by the worker as indicated by the work time information acquired by the acquisition unit.

[0013] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an appropriate break from routine work.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of work trends for routine tasks. FIG. 2 is a diagram explaining an example of a function related to changes in work time and a rest model estimated by this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of optimization of a schedule for business operations. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of optimization of a schedule for business operations. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an application example of a service management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing operation procedure by a service management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a service management device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of work trends for routine tasks. A work management device according to this embodiment can evaluate and determine the worker's state of boredom, which is a psychological state of the worker, based on the transition in work time over the course of days for the routine tasks as shown in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, by efficiently providing rest periods for the tasks based on the employee's psychological state, productivity declines are reduced and optimized work operations are achieved.

[0016] The above-mentioned routine tasks are tasks that occur regularly in an environment where non-routine tasks are also performed throughout the day, for example, and involve simple work, with a clearly defined workflow or implementation method.

[0017] This repetition of simple tasks leads to the rapid accumulation of work know-how, which in turn leads to workers becoming bored with their work, reducing their concentration and increasing the working hours, resulting in a decline in productivity (see symbol a in Figure 1).

[0018] This work time refers to the elapsed time per task or per job performed by a worker, and has a negative correlation with the worker's level of interest in the task. Setting a rest period for a task reduces the worker's level of boredom with the task. This rest period also causes the worker to forget work know-how. As a result, when the worker resumes work after the rest period, the work time increases compared to the time immediately before the rest period.

[0019] Therefore, the psychological state of a worker toward work can be evaluated based on the trend of increasing or decreasing work time from the transition of daily work time. A worker's interest in work is expressed as a "tendency of decreasing work time." Also, a worker's boredom with work is expressed as a "tendency of increasing work time."

[0020] The work time may temporarily increase and then decrease again. This increase or decrease can be assumed to be a fluctuation in work time aimed at shortening the work time, etc. For this reason, when the latest assessment result and the n (e.g., three) assessment results prior to this assessment are consistent, this result is considered to be the final assessment result.

[0021] If the set rest period is too long, the timing of resuming work will be far away from the moment boredom occurs, resulting in significant forgetting of work know-how and an unnecessarily long period of time after work is resumed (symbol b in Figure 1).

[0022] On the other hand, if the rest period is too short, the moment boredom occurs and the timing of resuming work will be close in time, so the degree of forgetting of work know-how will be low, but the worker will not be able to obtain a satisfactory rest effect, and their psychological state may change to boredom early after resuming work (symbol c in Figure 1).

[0023] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a function related to changes in work time and a rest model estimated by this embodiment. The work management device according to this embodiment estimates a function f(x) by approximation using curve regression based on the daily changes in work time for routine task A shown in FIG. 2, and determines the psychological state of worker a regarding this routine task A.

[0024] The work management device then acquires the working time during a work period for routine task A for which this psychological state has been determined to be bored and which has been resumed after the number of days of the rest periods has elapsed when each of a plurality of predetermined patterns of rest periods has been set for this routine task A. Based on this acquisition, the work management device creates a rest model for routine task A by estimating function g(x) using curvilinear regression approximation, where the number of days of the rest period is used as an explanatory variable and the average of the time-series working time during the work period for routine task A which has been resumed after the number of days of the rest period has elapsed (symbol a in FIG. 2 ) is used as a response variable. Rest models for other routine tasks can be created in a similar manner.

[0025] Using this rest model for routine task A, work operations are constructed that take into account the psychological state of other routine tasks, for example, routine task B (or C, D, etc.).

[0026] In this embodiment, the task time is expressed as follows: Task time = Task time (input time - shortest task time) / Task time (initial task time - shortest task time) The psychological state determination will now be explained. The psychological state determination conditions are expressed by the following (1) to (3), and the psychological state is evaluated based on whether or not there is consistency in the trends over the most recent n tasks. f'(x) indicates the trend in task time fluctuations, and f''(x) indicates the acceleration trend of f'(x).

[0027] (1) Interest state: f''(x)<0, f'(x)<0: The tendency of fluctuation and its acceleration are negative. (2) Transition state: f''(x)≧0, f''(x)≦0: Between the inflection point and the minimum value (the shortest working time). (3) Boredom state: f''(x)>0, f'(x)>0: The tendency of fluctuation and its acceleration are positive.

[0028] The rest model will now be explained. To set this rest model, the worker performs work until he or she reaches a state of psychological boredom, and then a rest period is set for any period of time, and this process is repeated. The total value of the work time during the work period after rest is divided by the number of work days ((Σ work time) / number of work days) and the value obtained by dividing this value by the number of rest days is set on the y-axis, and the number of rest days is set on the x-axis. The change in the average work time at this time is set as the rest model function g(x) for routine task A.

[0029] The number of rest days at which the rest model function g(x) has a minimum value, i.e., the number of rest days at which the y-axis value of the fluctuation trend g'(x) of the function g(x) is 0, is set as an appropriate rest period for routine task A (symbol b in Figure 2) that will ensure that the time-series changes in work hours are appropriate and do not reduce productivity. Such settings are made for each routine task.

[0030] Next, the optimization of a business operation schedule using a rest model will be described. Figures 3 and 4 are diagrams showing an example of the optimization of a business operation schedule. First, the setting of a routine task in a work period to a routine task in a rest period will be described. When the psychological state of a routine task set in a work period, i.e., a routine task currently being performed by a certain worker, becomes bored, this routine task is changed and set as a routine task in a rest period, i.e., a routine task that is not performed by the worker (hereinafter, this may be referred to as transitioning or moving a routine task to a rest period).

[0031] Furthermore, instead of setting rest periods for routine tasks based on the above-mentioned psychological state, when the amount of routine tasks during a task period is inappropriate relative to the worker's own operating status, for example, the time taken up by non-routine tasks in a day (hereinafter sometimes referred to as non-routine task time), for example, when the following formula (1) is satisfied, a setting may be made to shift all routine tasks during the task period to rest periods: Available time during a day - Non-routine task time < Shortest working time for routine tasks in a task period ... formula (1)

[0032] The non-routine task time is, for example, the time estimated to be required to perform a non-routine task in a worker's daily schedule, based on the time required to perform similar tasks in the past. The left side of equation (1) is the time the worker can allocate to routine tasks. The right side of equation (1) is the shortest time among the minimum working times for each routine task set in the task period.

[0033] Furthermore, at this time, when the following formula (2) is satisfied, it is possible to replace the corresponding routine task during the rest period with another routine task during the work period. The return time within the routine task during the rest period in formula (2) is the working time after the appropriate rest period set by the rest model has elapsed and the routine task set for the rest period has resumed, and is a time that can be estimated by the rest model.

[0034] Available time during the day - non-routine task time ≥ return time within routine tasks during rest period ... Equation (2)

[0035] In formula (1), if there is a period of two or more days that is not a work period when the work is set as a work period, the work is shifted to a rest period. When this shift is made, the worker can shift the work to a work period at their discretion.

[0036] Next, we will explain how to change a routine task in a rest period to a routine task in a working period. After the number of days exceeding the appropriate rest period for the routine task that has been changed to a rest period has passed, it can be changed back to a working period.

[0037] Furthermore, when all of a worker's routine tasks are set to rest periods and there is available work for the routine tasks, the routine task during the rest period whose working time is most regressive, i.e., the routine task for which the above function f(x) is closest to the inflection point, may be moved and added to the work period.

[0038] In this embodiment, the psychological states of the worker regarding the routine tasks, that is, the state of interest and the state of boredom, can be evaluated and determined. Then, by efficiently providing rest periods based on the psychological states of the worker regarding each task that the worker is handling, it is possible to avoid chronic boredom with the routine tasks and to build optimized business operations.

[0039] In the example shown in Figure 3, worker A is in charge of routine tasks A, B, and C, and currently routine tasks A and B are set as task periods, and routine task C is set as a rest period. Routine task C can transition to a task period after d days have passed from the present. Here, d days is the difference between the present and the end of the rest period, based on the appropriate rest period set in the rest model for routine task C.

[0040] Then, when it is estimated that the psychological state of worker a after d days has passed will be a bored state based on the function f(x) relating to the working time of routine task A by worker a, and when it is estimated that the psychological state of worker a after d days has passed will be a bored state in which the psychological state is in transition from an interest state to a bored state based on the function f(x) relating to the working time of routine task B by worker a, then after d days has passed, routine task A is shifted to a rest period and routine task C is shifted to a work period, so that routine tasks B and C are set as work periods and routine task A is set as a rest period, as shown in Figure 4.

[0041] 5 is a diagram showing an application example of a service management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the example shown in Fig. 5, the service management device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a task time acquisition unit 11, a task time DB 12, a psychological state estimation unit 13, a service management unit 14, a rest model update unit 15, a rest model DB 16, and an operation management DB 17.

[0042] The task time acquisition unit 11 acquires task time information, which is information indicating changes in the time required for a task by a worker over time, and passes the information to the task time DB 12. This task time can be acquired, for example, by a configuration for estimating the content of tasks performed during a specific time period, as disclosed in Patent Document 1. The task time acquisition unit 11 also sends a notification to the psychological state estimation unit 13 that new task time has been acquired (task completion).

[0043] The work time DB 12 acquires work times for routine tasks and stores and accumulates them in a memory area. The psychological state estimation unit 13 has a function of receiving a notification from the work time acquisition unit 11 and estimating a function f(x) by curve regression of the transition of work time from the work times acquired from the work time DB 12. The psychological state estimation unit 13 has a function of judging the worker's psychological state regarding the task from this function under predetermined judgment conditions and assigning this judgment result as a label.

[0044] The work management unit 14 classifies the work tasks in which the worker's psychological state is either an interest state, a transition state, or a boredom state based on the labels assigned by the psychological state estimation unit 13. When the worker's psychological state becomes a boredom state, the work management unit 14 notifies the rest model update unit 15 of work information indicating the routine work task in this boredom state. The work management unit 14 also acquires an appropriate rest period for the routine work task in this boredom state from the rest model DB 16 and stores the number of rest days remaining from the present to the end of the rest period in a storage area. The work management unit 14 can transition a routine work task in which the worker's psychological state becomes a boredom state, which is set as a work period, to a rest period, and can transition a routine work task for which an appropriate rest period has passed to a work period. The work management unit 14 can also transition a routine work task in which the worker is in an interest state or a transition state, which is set as a work period, to a rest period, and can transition a work task in which the worker is in a boredom state, which is set as a rest period, to a work period, based on the worker's operating status acquired from the operation management DB 17.

[0045] The rest model update unit 15 acquires, from the work time DB 12, the average work time during the work execution period of the work related to the work information acquired from the work management unit 14, based on the work information acquired from the work management unit 14. The work management unit 14 also temporarily acquires, from the rest model DB 16, a rest model function g(x) for the work related to the work information acquired from the work management unit 14. The work management unit 14 updates the acquired rest model function g(x) by adding the acquired average work time to the acquired rest model function g(x), and outputs the optimized rest period related to the acquired work information to the rest model DB 16 for storage.

[0046] The rest model DB 16 stores in a storage area a rest model for each routine task that has been created in advance. The rest model DB 16 also acquires the rest model updated by the rest model update unit 15 and stores it again in the storage area.

[0047] The operation management DB 17 can query the operation status of each worker for non-routine tasks, i.e., the time occupied by non-routine tasks, stored in a memory area. From this operation status, the operation management DB 17 calculates the operation time that the worker can allocate to routine tasks. If this operation time is inappropriately long for the routine task work time during the work period, the operation management DB 17 sends a notification to the operation management unit 14 to shift the routine task to a rest period or to exchange the settings for a routine task with appropriate conditions set for the rest period.

[0048] 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure performed by a task management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This flowchart shows an example of processing related to setting a routine task when the worker's psychological state for the routine task is bored. First, the task time acquisition unit 11 acquires new task time for the routine task being performed by the worker at predetermined intervals and notifies the psychological state estimation unit 13 (S11). The acquired task time for the routine task performed by the worker is then registered in the task time DB 12 together with the acquisition timing (S12).

[0049] The psychological state estimation unit 13 estimates a function f(x) by curve regression based on the progress of the work time at each timing registered in the work time DB 12 for the routine task indicated in the notification from the work time acquisition unit 11 (S13), and determines whether the psychological state of the worker performing the routine task is a state of interest, a state of transition, or a state of boredom based on this function f(x) (S14).

[0050] In this embodiment, the past n determination results of psychological states related to the same routine task are stored, for example, in a storage area of ​​the task management unit 14. The task management unit 14 checks whether the past n determination results and the latest determination result are consistent, for example, whether all determination results indicate a bored state (S15). If the consistent determination result indicates a state of interest or a transition state, the task management unit 14 sets the routine task related to this determination result as a routine task for the task period, and returns to S11.

[0051] Furthermore, when the consistent judgment result indicates a bored state, the work management unit 14 obtains the current working time using the function f(x) related to the latest judgment result (S17), and obtains an appropriate rest period for the routine task related to this judgment result, which is stored in the rest model DB 16 (S18). If, during this rest period, all of the routine tasks of the worker, including the routine task determined to be in a bored state, are set as rest periods (Yes in S19), the work management unit 14 determines whether there is available working time for the routine task (S21).

[0052] If this determination reveals that there is available operating time for the routine tasks, the task management unit 14 selects the task with the longest return time of the work time among the routine tasks during the rest period as the task suitable for implementation in accordance with the operating status (S21 → S22), forcibly transfers this task to the task period (S16), and returns to S11.

[0053] Furthermore, if (1) the result of S19 is No, (2) there is no available operating time for the routine task in S21, or (3) there is no task suitable for execution in accordance with the operating status in S22, the routine task determined to be in a bored state is shifted to a rest period (S20), and the process proceeds to S21. By the above processing, chronic boredom of the routine task can be avoided.

[0054] 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a service management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the service management device 100 according to the embodiment is configured, for example, as a server computer or a personal computer, and has a hardware processor 111A such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). A program memory 111B, a data memory 112, an input / output interface 113, and a communication interface 114 are connected to this hardware processor 111A via a bus 115.

[0055] The communication interface 114 includes, for example, one or more wireless communication interface units, and enables transmission and reception of information to and from a communication network NW. As the wireless interface, for example, an interface that adopts a low-power wireless data communication standard such as a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) is used.

[0056] An input device 200 and an output device 300, which are attached to the service management device 100 and used by users, etc., are connected to the input / output interface 113. The input / output interface 113 receives operation data input by users, etc. through the input device 200, such as a keyboard, touch panel, touchpad, or mouse, and outputs and displays output data to the output device 300, which may include a display device using a liquid crystal or organic electroluminescence (EL) display. The input device 200 and the output device 300 may be devices built into the service management device 100, or may be input devices and output devices of other information terminals that can communicate with the service management device 100 via the network NW.

[0057] The program memory 111B is a non-transitory tangible storage medium that is a combination of a non-volatile memory that can be written to and read from at any time, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and a non-volatile memory such as a read only memory (ROM), and stores programs necessary to execute various control processes, etc., according to one embodiment.

[0058] The data memory 112 is a tangible storage medium that is a combination of, for example, the above-mentioned non-volatile memory and a volatile memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory), and is used to store various data acquired and created during various processes performed by the business management device 100.

[0059] The service management device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be configured as a data processing device having software-based processing function units. The storage areas used as work memory by each unit of the service management device 100 may be configured using the data memory 112 shown in FIG. 7. However, these configured storage areas are not essential components within the service management device 100, and may be areas provided in, for example, an external storage medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, or a storage device such as a database server located in the cloud.

[0060] The processing function unit can be realized by having the hardware processor 111A read and execute a program stored in the program memory 111B, but the processing function unit may also be realized in various other forms, including an integrated circuit such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0061] The methods described in each embodiment may be stored as a program (software means) that can be executed by a computer on a recording medium such as a magnetic disk (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, etc.), an optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM, a DVD, an MO, etc.), or a semiconductor memory (e.g., a ROM, a RAM, a flash memory, etc.), or may be transmitted and distributed via a communication medium. The program stored on the medium also includes a configuration program that configures the software means (including not only executable programs but also tables and data structures) that the computer executes. The computer that realizes this device reads the program stored on the recording medium and, in some cases, configures the software means using the configuration program, and executes the above-described processing by having the operation controlled by this software means. The term "recording medium" as used herein is not limited to a storage medium for distribution, but also includes a storage medium such as a magnetic disk or semiconductor memory installed inside the computer or in a device connected via a network.

[0062] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made in the implementation stage without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, the embodiments may be implemented in appropriate combinations, in which case the combined effects can be obtained. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments include various inventions, and various inventions can be extracted by combining selected elements from the disclosed elements. For example, if the problem can be solved and the desired effect can be obtained even if some elements are deleted from all elements shown in the embodiments, the configuration from which these elements are deleted can be extracted as an invention.

[0063] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100: Work management device 11: Work time acquisition unit 12: Work time DB 13: Mental state estimation unit 14: Work management unit 15: Rest model update unit 16: Rest model DB 17: Operation management DB

Claims

1. A work management device comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires work time information indicating changes over time in the time required for routine work performed by a worker; and a work management unit that manages the routine work as work to be rested on during the rest period determined by the model when the time required for the work acquired by the acquisition unit tends to increase during a period indicated by a model in which a rest period in which the routine work is not performed is determined, thereby making the time required for the routine work appropriate.

2. The business management device of claim 1, further comprising a model creation unit that creates the model based on the length of a specified period during which the routine work is managed as a task to be rested when the time required for the work acquired by the acquisition unit is showing a tendency to increase, and the length of time required for the work after the specified period has elapsed and performance of the routine work is resumed.

3. The business management device of claim 2, wherein the model creation unit estimates a first function by performing a regression analysis of the time required for the routine work performed by the worker over time; estimates a second function by performing a regression analysis when the time required for the work shown by the first function is on the rise, using the length of the period managed as the work to be rested as an explanatory variable and the average length of the period required for the work after the specified period has elapsed and the routine work is resumed as an objective variable; and generates the model in which the period of the objective variable of the second function is a minimum value as the period managed as the work to be rested.

4. The business management device of claim 1, wherein the business management unit manages the work as a target for rest during the period defined by the model when the time required for the work tends to increase, and manages another work that is managed as a target for rest during the period defined by the model as a target for execution during the period defined by the model.

5. A work management device comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires work time information indicating changes over time in the time required for a routine task performed by a worker; and a work management unit that manages the routine task as a task for which rest is required when the period in which the worker can perform routine or non-routine work is available is shorter than the shortest time required for the routine task performed by the worker as indicated in the work time information acquired by the acquisition unit.

6. A method performed by a task management device, comprising: acquiring, by an acquisition unit of the task management device, task time information indicating changes over time in the time required for routine tasks performed by a worker; and managing, by the task management unit of the task management device, the routine tasks as tasks subject to rest during the rest periods determined by the model when the time required for the tasks acquired by the acquisition unit tends to increase during a period indicated by a model in which rest periods during which routine tasks are not performed are determined to make the time required for the routine tasks appropriate.

7. A method performed by a task management device, comprising: acquiring, by an acquisition unit of the task management device, task time information indicating changes over time in the time required for a routine task performed by a worker; and managing, by the task management unit of the task management device, the routine task being performed by the worker as a task for which rest is required, when the period in which the worker can perform routine or non-routine tasks is short compared to the shortest time required for the routine task being performed by the worker as indicated in the task time information acquired by the acquisition unit.

8. A task management processing program that causes a processor to function as each unit of the task management device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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