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A job-task analysis is a method for breaking down a job or process into key elements in order to identify what a learner must know or do in order to successfully perform.

Training developers perform a task analysis to do one or more of the following:

• Determine training goals or objectives
• Define all tasks needing to be performed
• Prioritize and order all tasks
• Types of knowledge the learner or performer must possess to be successful
• Build benchmarks for evaluation

A job-task analysis isn’t necessarily a “one size fits all” effort.  Just as people require different forms of learning, based on preferences and styles, task analysis methods are different based on contexts.  There are five kinds of task analysis, or contexts under which you would conduct a task analysis:

1. Job or performance analysis – an overall view of what a person does and their role within a process or organization
2. Learning analysis – otherwise known as a needs assessment, a view of what people must learn to reach a defined level of performance
3. Cognitive analysis – a view of how learners should process information
4. Content or subject matter analysis – an inventory of what people must know in order to perform
5. Activity analysis – an inventory of tasks a person does in a given job or role

A job or task is more than a process or procedure a person would do. If you understand the context under which you are conducting the analysis, you should have no problem identifying the elements needed for someone to successfully perform.