task vs workload

WHAT IS TASK ?

Definition:The smallest identifiable and essential piece of a job that serves as a unit of work, and as a means of differentiating between the various components of a project.

In management lavel, a task is an activity that needs to be accomplished within a defined period of time or by a deadline to work towards work-related goals. A task can be broken down into assignments which should also have a defined start and end date or a deadline for completion. One or more assignments on a task puts the task under execution. Completion of all assignments on a specific task normally renders the task completed. Tasks can be linked together to create dipendances. 

Tasks completion generally requires the coordination of others. Coordinated human interaction takes on the role of combining the integration of time, energy, effort, ability, and resources of multiple individuals to meet a common goal. Coordination can also be thought of as the critical mechanism that links or ties together the efforts on the singular level to that of the larger task being completed by multiple members. Coordination allows for the successful completion of the otherwise larger tasks that one might encounter.

In most projects, tasks may suffer one of two major drawbacks:

• Task dependency: Which is normal as most tasks rely on others to get done. However, this can lead to the stagnation of a project when many tasks cannot get started unless others are finished.
• Unclear understanding of the term complete: For example, if a task is 90% complete, does this mean that it will take only 1/9 of the time already spent on this task to finish it? Although this is mathematically sound, it is rarely the case when it comes to practice.

what is workload:

Workload is the amount of work an individual has to do. There is a distinction between the actual amount of work and the individual's perception of the workload. Workload can also be classified as quantitative (the amount of work to be done) or qualitative (the difficulty of the work).

The assessment of operator workload has a vital impact on the design of new human-machine systems. By evaluating operator workload during the design of a new system, or iteration of an existing system, problems such as workload bottleneck and overload can be identified. As the human operator is a central part of a human-machine system, the correction of these problems is necessary for the operation of safe and efficient systems.

An operating budget may include estimates of the expected workload for a specific activity. Work loads can vary in many different situations, but the average workload is average.

How to understand :

Workload can also refer to the total energy output of a system, particularly of a person or animal performing a strenuous task over time. One particular application of this is weight lifting where both anecotal evidence and scientific research has shown that it is the total "workload" that is important to muscle growth, as opposed to just the load, just the volume, or "time under tension". In these and related uses of the word, "workload" can be broken up into "work+load", referring to the work done with a given load. In terms of weights training, the "load" refers to the heaviness of the weight being lifted (20 kg is a greater load than 10 kg), and "work" refers to the volume, or total number of reps and sets done with that weight (20 reps is more work than 10 reps, but 2 sets of 10 reps is the same work as 1 set of 20 reps, its just that the human body cannot do 20reps of a heavy weight without a rest, so its best to think of 2x10 as being 20 reps, with a rest in the middle).

This theory was also used to determine horse power, which was defined as the amount of work a horse could do with a given load over time. The wheel that the horse turned in Watt's original experiment put a certain load on the horse's muscles, and the horse could do a certain amount of work with this load in a minute. Provided the horse was a perfect machine, it would be capable of a constant maximum workload, so increasing the load by a given percentage would result in the possible work done decreasing by the same percentage, so that it would still equal "1 hp". Horses are, obviously, not perfect machines and over short time periods are capable of as much as 14 hp, and over long periods of exertion output an average of less than 1 hp.

The theory can also be applied to automobiles or other machines, which are slightly more "perfect" than animals. Making a car heavier, for instance, increases the load that the engine must pull. Likewise, making it more aerodynamic decreases drag, which acts as a load on the car as well. Torque can be thought of as the ability to move load, and the revs are how much work it can do with that load in a given amount of time. Therefore, torque and revs together create kilowatts, or total power output. Total output can be related to the "workload" of the engine/car, or how much work it can do with a given amount of load. As engines are more mechanically perfect than animals' muscles, and do not fatigue in the same way, they will conform much more closely to the formula that if you apply more load, they will do less work, and vice versa. 

in occupational level:

In an occupational setting, dealing with workload can be stressful and serve as a stressor for employees. There are three aspects of workload that can be stressful.

Quantitative workload or overload: Having more work to do than can be accomplished comfortably.

Qualitative workload: Having work that is too difficult.

Underload: Having work that fails to use a worker's skills and abilities.

Workload has been linked to a number of strains, including anxiety, physiological reactions such as cortisol, fatigue, backache, headache, and gastrointestinal problems.

Workload as a work demand is a major component of the demand-control model of stress . This model suggests that jobs with high demands can be stressful, especially when the individual has low control over the job. In other words, control serves as a buffer or protective factor when demands or workload is high. This model was expanded into the demand-control-support model that suggests that the combination of high control and high social support at work buffers the effects of high demands.

As a work demand, workload is also relevant to the job demand resource model  of stress that suggests that jobs are stressful when demands (e.g., workload) exceed the individual's resources to deal with them.