Management at Work

Before any digging takes place on someone$$s property, it is important that all underground electrical wires, cable wires, water$/$sewer pipes, and gas mains have been marked. Marking prevents the digger from accidentally encountering these underground hazards. A state has set up a hotline for people to call before they dig. The manager overseeing the hotline knows that if callers are kept on hold for very long, they may hang up and begin excavation without getting their property marked. Therefore, keeping wait times down is important. To achieve this objective by the beginning of the busy summer construction and gardening season, the manager has decided to use management by objectives $($MBO$).$

Answer

Activities

Management by objectives step

Setting a goal A$.$ A pool of twelve contingent call center workers who work at home will be hired and trained before April $15.$ These employees can be activated anytime hold times threaten to exceed $90$ seconds.

Developing an action plan B$.$ Based on data on how long people wait before hanging up$,$ the manager decides the maximum time on hold should be $90$ seconds.

Reviewing progress C$.$ On April $1,$ the manager sees that nine contingent call center workers have been hired and completed training. On June $30,$ call center data show $5$ percent of calls are on hold for more than $90$ seconds.

Appraising performance D$.$ On September $30,$ the manager reports that call center hold times for the summer construction season averaged $42$ seconds, with $30$ percent of all calls not being put on hold at all but $2$ percent of calls exceeding $90$ seconds of hold time. The plan is rated mostly successful.