It is this combination of the initiative of the workmen, coupled with the new types of work done
by the management, that makes scientific management so much more efficient than the old plan. . . .
Perhaps the most prominent single element in modern scientific management is the task idea. The
work of every workman is fully planned out by the management at least one day in advance, and each
man receives in most cases complete written instructions, describing in detail the task which he is to
accomplish, as well as the means to be used in doing the work. And the work planned in advance in
this way constitutes a task which is to be solved, as explained above, not by the workman alone, but in
almost all cases by the joint effort of the workman and the management. This task specifies not only
what is to be done but how it is to be done and the exact time allowed for doing it. And whenever the
workman succeeds in doing his task right, and within the time limit specified, he receives an addition
of from 30 per cent. to 100 per cent. to his ordinary wages. These tasks are carefully planned, so that
both good and careful work are called for in their performance, but it should be distinctly understood
that in no case is the workman called upon to work at a pace which would be injurious to his health.
The task is always so regulated that the man who is well suited to his job will thrive while working at
this rate during a long term of years and grow happier and more prosperous, instead of being overworked.
Scientific management consists very largely in preparing for and carrying out these tasks