Job Step is a fundamental concept in the Jobs to be Done (JTBD) framework that refers to the discrete stages or actions that customers must complete to successfully execute their job-to-be-done. Job steps provide a structured way to break down complex customer jobs into manageable components, enabling portfolio companies to identify specific opportunities for product innovation and value creation.

Definition and Importance

A job step is an action or phase that a customer must complete as part of executing their overall job-to-be-done. Job steps follow a natural pattern based on how humans solve problems, breaking down complex jobs into a sequence of actionable components.

Understanding job steps is critical for portfolio companies because:

1. Granular Analysis: Job steps provide the right level of granularity to identify specific customer struggles and opportunities for innovation
   
   
2. Structural Framework: They offer a consistent structure for analyzing any job-to-be-done, regardless of industry or market
   
   
3. Prioritization Tool: They help companies identify which parts of the customer's job present the greatest opportunities for improvement
   
   
4. Customer-Centric Logic: They follow the customer's natural problem-solving process rather than imposing product-centric viewpoints
   
   
5. Stable Reference Point: Like the overall job-to-be-done, job steps remain stable over time even as products and technologies change
   
   

The Job Step Pattern

One of the most powerful aspects of job steps is that they follow a consistent pattern across all Jobs to be Done. This pattern is based on how humans naturally approach problems and goals, as originally described by mathematician George Polya in his work on problem-solving in the 1940s and later refined in the JTBD framework.

The standard job step pattern includes:

1. Understanding Steps

These initial steps focus on defining the job parameters and understanding what needs to be accomplished. Customers gather information, clarify objectives, and establish requirements before proceeding.

Example: In the job of "getting to a destination on time," an understanding step would be "estimate the departure time," where the customer determines when they need to leave based on arrival requirements.

2. Planning Steps

Once the job is understood, customers plan their approach. They determine strategies, allocate resources, sequence activities, and prepare for execution.

Example: In the job of "getting to a destination on time," a planning step would be "plan the stops," where the customer determines where they need to stop along the route and in what sequence.

3. Execution Steps

These steps involve the actual performance of the core activities required to get the job done. Customers take action based on their understanding and planning.

Example: In the job of "getting to a destination on time," an execution step would be "travel to the destination," where the customer physically moves from their starting point toward their destination.

4. Assessment Steps

As the job progresses, customers evaluate their performance, measure progress, and determine if adjustments are needed. These steps often occur concurrently with execution.

Example: In the job of "getting to a destination on time," an assessment step would be "assess arrival time," where the customer checks whether they're likely to arrive on schedule based on current progress.

5. Revision Steps

Based on assessment, customers may need to modify their approach. These steps involve adjusting plans, changing methods, or adapting to new information or circumstances.

Example: In the job of "getting to a destination on time," a revision step would be "revise the route as needed," where the customer changes their planned path in response to traffic, construction, or other factors.

6. Conclusion Steps

The final steps involve completing the job, confirming success, and transitioning to subsequent activities.

Example: In the job of "getting to a destination on time," a conclusion step would be "park the vehicle," where the customer completes their journey and prepares for their activities at the destination.

This consistent pattern makes job steps a powerful tool for analyzing any customer job-to-be-done, regardless of industry or context.

Job Steps vs. Processes vs. Workflows

It's important to distinguish job steps from related concepts:

• Job Steps: Customer-centric actions required to complete a job-to-be-done, independent of any specific product or solution
• Processes: Organization-centric sequences of activities designed to achieve specific outcomes, often tied to particular systems or methodologies
• Workflows: Implementation-specific sequences of tasks that define how work moves through a system or organization

Job steps focus on what customers need to accomplish rather than how specific solutions implement those needs. This customer-centric perspective is what makes job steps so valuable for innovation and product strategy.

Identifying Job Steps

Accurately identifying the steps in a customer's job-to-be-done requires rigorous research and analysis. The thrv methodology includes several approaches to ensure that portfolio companies correctly identify job steps:

1. Customer Interviews

Direct conversations with job beneficiaries and job executors reveal how they think about accomplishing their jobs. These interviews focus on understanding:

• How customers break down the overall job into manageable parts
• What sequence they follow when executing the job
• Where they experience difficulties or frustrations
• How they measure success at each stage

2. Observation Research

Watching customers as they execute their jobs provides insights that may not emerge through interviews alone:

• The actual sequence of activities (which may differ from what customers report)
• Unconscious or habitual behaviors that customers might not mention
• Points of hesitation, confusion, or frustration
• Workarounds and adaptations customers have developed

3. Pattern Analysis

Applying the standard job step pattern helps identify missing or implicit steps that customers might not articulate:

• Ensuring all six categories of steps (understanding, planning, execution, assessment, revision, conclusion) are represented
• Comparing the job to similar jobs in other contexts to identify parallel steps
• Analyzing how the steps flow logically from one to another
• Identifying gaps in the customer's current approach

4. Validation Research

Once preliminary job steps are identified, they are validated through additional research:

• Follow-up interviews to confirm the completeness and accuracy of the job step model
• Quantitative surveys to measure how customers prioritize different steps
• Tests of whether proposed solutions addressing specific job steps resonate with customers

This rigorous approach ensures that portfolio companies build their strategies on a solid foundation of accurately identified job steps.

Job Steps and Customer Needs

Each job step contains multiple customer needs—specific metrics customers use to evaluate how successfully they can execute that step. A typical job step might encompass 5-10 distinct customer needs.

For example, in the job step "plan the stops" within the job of "getting to a destination on time," customer needs include:

• Determine the optimal sequence to make planned stops
• Determine the routes to make planned stops
• Determine the added time to make stops
• Determine if parking is available at the stops
• Determine if the location will be open when arriving

Understanding this hierarchical relationship between jobs, job steps, and needs is crucial for effective product strategy:

1. Jobs define markets and the fundamental goals customers are trying to achieve
2. Job Steps break these goals into manageable phases that customers must complete
3. Needs define the specific metrics customers use to evaluate success within each step

This hierarchical structure provides a comprehensive framework for analyzing customer behavior and identifying innovation opportunities.

Job Steps and Product Strategy

Job steps play a crucial role in developing effective product strategies for portfolio companies:

Opportunity Identification

By measuring customer effort scores across job steps, companies can identify which steps cause customers the most difficulty. These high-effort steps represent the greatest opportunities for innovation and differentiation.

For example, if research shows that customers struggle significantly with the job step "revise the route as needed" when getting to destinations on time, this indicates a valuable opportunity for navigation products that excel at real-time route adjustments.

Feature Prioritization

Understanding which job steps are most important to customers and most difficult to execute helps companies prioritize features in their product roadmaps.

Features that address high-priority, high-difficulty job steps should receive greater investment and earlier development than those addressing less critical or better-served steps.

Competitive Differentiation

Job steps provide a framework for differentiating products in crowded markets. Rather than attempting to outperform competitors across all aspects of the job, companies can focus on excelling at specific high-value job steps.

For example, a navigation app might differentiate by focusing exclusively on excellence in the "plan the stops" job step, creating a unique position in the market even against much larger competitors.

Messaging and Positioning

Job steps help companies create more resonant marketing messages by focusing on specific customer struggles rather than generic product benefits.

Messaging that directly addresses customers' difficulties with particular job steps creates stronger connection and higher conversion rates than general feature-focused communication.

Job Steps in Market Evolution

As markets evolve, the focus of innovation often shifts from one job step to another:

Early Market Stage

In early markets, innovation typically focuses on the core execution steps of the job. Products that simply make the basic job possible—even if imperfectly—can succeed.

For example, early navigation products focused primarily on the execution step of "travel to the destination," providing basic route guidance without addressing planning or assessment steps comprehensively.

Growth Market Stage

As markets mature and basic execution becomes commoditized, innovation shifts to planning and assessment steps. Products that help customers better prepare for and evaluate job execution gain advantage.

For example, as basic navigation became standard, products began competing on features related to planning optimal routes and providing real-time traffic assessment.

Mature Market Stage

In highly mature markets, innovation often focuses on the understanding and revision steps. Products that help customers better define their goals and adapt to changing circumstances create differentiation.

For example, advanced navigation systems now help customers understand when they should leave based on predicted traffic patterns and automatically revise routes based on real-time conditions.

Understanding this evolution pattern helps portfolio companies anticipate where innovation opportunities will emerge next in their markets.

Job Steps in thrv's Methodology

In thrv's proprietary Jobs to be Done methodology, job steps serve as a fundamental building block for creating growth strategies for portfolio companies:

Job Step Mapping

The thrv platform includes tools for mapping all steps in a customer's job-to-be-done, ensuring comprehensive coverage of the customer experience.

Customer Effort Scoring

The methodology measures customer effort scores for each job step through quantitative surveys, identifying which steps represent the greatest opportunities for innovation.

Need Identification

Within each job step, thrv helps portfolio companies identify the specific customer needs that define success criteria for that step.

Segmentation Analysis

By analyzing which customer segments struggle with particular job steps, thrv helps companies identify target segments with the greatest growth potential.

Competitive Analysis

The methodology assesses how effectively competitors' products address each job step, identifying competitive weaknesses and opportunities for differentiation.

Product Roadmap Development

Based on job step analysis, thrv helps portfolio companies develop product roadmaps that focus on the highest-opportunity job steps and needs.

This comprehensive approach ensures that product strategies address the most valuable opportunities for growth and differentiation.

The Strategic Value of Job Step Analysis

For portfolio companies, a deep understanding of job steps delivers several strategic benefits:

Customer-Centric Innovation

By focusing on job steps rather than product features, companies maintain a customer-centric perspective in their innovation efforts.

Precise Opportunity Targeting

Job steps provide the right level of granularity to identify specific, actionable opportunities without getting lost in excessive detail.

Stable Strategic Foundation

Because job steps remain constant even as technologies change, they provide a stable foundation for long-term product strategy.

Clear Organizational Alignment

Job steps create a shared language and framework that helps align product, marketing, and sales teams around customer needs.

Risk Reduction

By validating which job steps present the greatest customer struggles before significant investment, companies reduce the risk of developing unwanted features.

Enhanced Differentiation

Focus on specific high-value job steps helps companies create meaningful differentiation even in crowded markets with powerful competitors.

Conclusion

Job steps are a critical concept in the Jobs to be Done framework, providing a structured approach to breaking down complex customer jobs into manageable components. By understanding the steps customers take to execute their Jobs to be Done, portfolio companies can identify specific opportunities for innovation, prioritize their product investments, and create more effective marketing and sales approaches.

The thrv methodology provides portfolio companies with sophisticated tools for identifying, analyzing, and addressing job steps in their markets. This job step-based approach accelerates growth, increases product adoption, and ultimately creates greater equity value with reduced risk.