workwhat

Workwhat is a framework proposed in organizational studies to describe and analyze work activities within an organization. It treats work as a set of observable elements that can be mapped, compared, and improved across tasks, teams, and processes. The aim is to clarify what work entails and how it contributes to goals, without prescribing a single method of execution.

At its core, workwhat identifies four interacting dimensions: what is to be done (tasks and activities); how it is performed (tools, techniques, and methods); where and when it occurs (context and timing); and why it is done (objectives and expected outcomes). These dimensions can be expanded with subcomponents such as required skills, inputs, outputs, and interdependencies.

Origins and usage: The term does not have a single origin in real-world scholarship but appears in various theoretical and practitioner writings as a descriptive model. It is used in work-design and process-improvement efforts to organize information about activities, support benchmarking, and guide automation decisions.

Applications: Organizations may use workwhat to build task dictionaries, conduct gap analyses between current practice and strategic goals, and design training or onboarding programs that reflect actual task requirements. It can also support comparisons between teams or sites and inform automation or outsourcing decisions.

Limitations: Critics argue that workwhat can oversimplify socio-technical work and that definitions vary across contexts. Because it is not a standardized framework, practitioners should document scope, definitions, and boundaries when applying it.

See also: task analysis, work design, workflow, process mapping, knowledge management.