Resolve operational performance problems
Little of this can be handed to software today.
This work is the relationship itself. An agent can prepare for it and write up what happened afterwards, which is real time saved, but the encounter needs a person present and answerable.
| How automatable | Barely automatable |
|---|---|
| Kind of work | Relationships, negotiation and public-facing presence |
| Jobs that do it | 8 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others (4.A.4.a.7) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 8 occupations that perform it.
- Resolve testing problems by modifying testing methods or revising test objectives and standards.
- Investigate or resolve operational problems, such as material use variances or bottlenecks.
- Solve problems in a number of engineering fields, such as mechanical, chemical, electrical, civil, nuclear, and aerospace.
- Devise solutions to problems of land reclamation and water and air pollution, such as methods of storing excavated soil and returning exhausted mine sites to natural states.
- Initiate corrective actions or order plant shutdowns in emergency situations.
- Assist engineering and other personnel to solve operating problems.
- Identify and resolve equipment malfunctions, working with manufacturers or field representatives as necessary to procure replacement parts.
- Identify and report problems in obtaining valid data.
What we would actually use
Nothing in our landscape addresses this work. That is the honest answer rather than a padded list: this activity needs a person present, or a machine rather than a software agent.
Buy nothing. An assistant can prepare you for the encounter and write up what happened afterwards, which is real time saved, but the encounter itself is the work and it needs you in it.
Chosen for the cheapest thing that does the job, not the best funded. Nothing on this site is sponsored, and the full landscape is there when you want to disagree with us.
Who does this work
8 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Resolve personnel or operational problems”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
| Activity | Jobs |
|---|---|
| Resolve issues affecting transportation operations | 6 |
| Resolve employee or contractor problems | 3 |
| Resolve personnel problems | 2 |
Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.