Food-Service-Manual-for-Health-Care-Institutions

Chapter 6
Organization and Time
Management
Organizing is the process of dividing the work done in an organization (or a unit within the
organization) into smaller parts and assigning responsibility for those parts to specific positions.
Historically, organizations believed work was accomplished most efficiently when
divided into specialized tasks and given to specialists of those tasks. More recently, the idea of
specialization is being questioned in light of job diversity that creates multiskilled workers, a
more desirable approach. The change from a specialized skills approach to a multiple-skills
approach is attributed to a number of trends. These include demands for a customer orientation
and patient-centered care, the movement toward continuous quality improvement,
changes in workforce demographics, and the demand for participative management.
To answer the question of how health care facilities should be organized to meet their goals
efficiently and effectively, this chapter explores various organizational structures. Each structure
is reviewed in terms of the extent and type of departmentalization within an institution, the
degree to which decentralization of tasks and decision making is a prominent feature of an institution,
and job design factors in a specific corporate climate. Organizational structure is applied
to how the role of a food service department is defined in the larger organization (for example,
through teams). In addition, food service department organization is addressed, including the
proper exercise of authority, staffing, and scheduling. Time management is discussed from
the point of view of time as a resource whose function is to maximize productivity.
Determining Organizational Structure
The system a facility chooses as most appropriate for conducting its work is called the organizational
structure. Health care facilities are exploring various organizational structures to
determine the one best suited to meet quality demands within limitations imposed by cost constraints.
It is important that decisions be made quickly, that employees participate in decision
making, and that customer demands (especially those of patients) be met to ensure a health care
institution’s long-term viability. With these considerations in mind, the following sections discuss
three common entities in health care organizational structure: departments, committees,
and teams.
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