EDCI 528 Performance Analysis, Reception Desk/Call Answering Inefficiency

7/25/2019 EDCI 528 Performance Analysis, Reception Desk/Call Answering Inefficiency

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PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS EDCI 528

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Assignment 1: Performance Analysis

Reception Desk/Call Answering Inefficiency at SRB LLP

Performance System

Organizational Overview

SRB LLP is a medium-sized high street law firm. The firm has an established reputation

for providing a personalized, bespoke service to its client base, which is comprised for the most

part of individuals, small traders and medium-sized businesses from the surrounding area. The

firm relies heavily on its local associations, continued loyalty of its clients and their personal

recommendations to ensure ongoing work and generate new client leads. Accordingly, a key aspect

of SRB LLPsmarketing strategy revolves around building and maintaining the firms goodwill

with the boroughslocal community.

SRB LLP is headed by 6 partners and is comprised of:

5 individual legal departments (Property, Family, Private Client, Company & Commercial

and Personal Injury & Clinical Negligence), employing between them approximately 25

solicitors and 35 members of support staff including secretaries, legal executives,

paralegals and trainee solicitors;

an accounts department employing 2 accountants who also undertake all HR functions;

a general administration department employing 2 administration assistants;

1 member of post room staff who also coordinates buildings and equipment maintenance;

4 part-time members of reception desk staff.


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Reception Desk Overview

This report deals largely with inefficiencies related to the performance of the reception desk

functions and therefore it is necessary to provide a brief overview of the same here. The reception

desk staff comprise 4 long-serving, part-time female members of staff ranging in age from 60 to

70 years old, 2 of whom cover the morning shift from 8am to 1pm and 2 of whom cover the

afternoon shift from 1pm to 6pm.

A paper diary containing details of the comings and goings of all the partners and solicitors,

including holidays, sick days and out of office appointments, is maintained by reception desk staff.

The partners and solicitors support staffare expected to provide regular updates to reception desk

staff in that regard and all approved holiday request forms are initially handed in to reception desk

staff who note the relevant dates in the diary before passing the forms to the accounts department

for processing.

The reception desk represents the first port of call to the firm for all clients, whether they walk

in to the main office or telephone in. Reception desk staff are expected to provide prospective

walk-in clients with information about the firm, answer any queries they may have and encourage

them to book an initial free-of-charge initial consultation with an appropriate partner or solicitor,

which they do so over the telephone with the partner or solicitors secretary then and there. On

arrival of existing clients or business contacts at the offices, reception desk staff are expected to

greet and seat them, or take details of any ad hoc query they may have if that is the purpose of their

visit, before telephoning the relevantpartner or solicitors secretary toeither advise them that the

clients were present for a scheduled face-to-face meeting or to take instructions how to deal with

the client such as inform then that an ad hoc meeting was possible, provide them with the

information they need or book them in for an appointment at a future date. Reception desk staff


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are responsible for preparing tea and coffee, and if necessary, arranging catering for in-office

meetings.

The reception desk staff are also responsible for manning the phones at the reception desk,

taking all initial calls to the firm and diverting them to the appropriate person. There is no particular

telephone call protocol or policy within the firm. Each partner and solicitor has their own

requirements for call forwarding of which reception desk staff are informally aware; some are

happy for telephone calls to be directly rooted to them while others prefer their secretary or other

support staff to filter the same in the first instance. Where the relevant person is away, engaged on

the phone or unable to take the call then reception desk staff are expected to advise the caller that

they cannot be reached and offer to put them through to the persons answerphone.

In terms of responding to ad hoc client queries, both in person and over the telephone, the

reception desk staff have access to the firms computerized case management system, Solcase,

with which they can look up a particular clients file details, including information relating to the

partner or solicitor dealing with the case, by searching for either the matter name or reference

number. Case reference numbers include the unique initials of the solicitor dealing with the case,

enabling reception desk staff to quickly and easily identify the correct case handler when they take

those details from the client.

The reception desk, accounts and administration staff are not directly supervised. In the event

that any operational issues arise then the matter and/or any complaints tend to be informally

reported to one of the partners. The issue will then be discussed between the partners in the course

of their regular monthly partnership meeting at which a solution or resolution strategy will be

decided and, thereafter, implemented by a nominated partner or senior solicitor to whom the task

has been delegated.


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Figure 1. SRB LLP Reception Desk Human Performance System.

Identification of Drivers of Performance Gaps

The Performance Issue

At the most recent partnership meeting, a number of concerns were raised regarding

reception desk functions as follows:


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The firms designated complaints officer, one of the partners, has received a growing

number of formal complaints over recent months from disgruntled clients regarding

telephone calls made to the firms reception desk. In particular, the complaining client s

have reported having to wait an unreasonable amount of time for their calls to be initially

answered, with the phone sometimes ringing off the hook; waiting up to ten minutes on

hold after their call is initially answered; poor handling of their calls such as being directed

to the wrong person or department; being put immediately through to an answerphone

service without explanation and insufficient details on the answerphone message to discern

whether they are leaving the message on the correct persons phone, and calls not being

returned within a reasonable amount of time after an answerphone message is left.

Many of the partners have received informal internal complaints from solicitors and

support staff within their departments regarding reception desk functions. It has been

reported that reception desk staff are failing to take basic details from incoming callers,

such as their case reference number and brief details of their query, and instead tend only

to note the callers name, often repeating the same incorrectly when transferring the call,

and the case handler or department the client wishes to be put through to. This has led to

unnecessary time being wasted by solicitors and their support staff in ascertaining the

clients correct details. New clients are not always aware of the name of the solicitor that

is acting on their behalf and client surnames does not always relate to the name the case is

filed under, particularly in relation to businesses clients where cases are filed under the

company or deal name. As a result, on numerous occasions client have been transferred to

the incorrect department and then sent around the houses as various support staff and


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solicitors transfer the call to different individuals in the firm in an attempt to identify the

correct person to put them in touch with.

Solicitors and support staff report that the reception desk staff have responded defensively

and curtly to requests to take more detailed information, and one member of the reception

desk team has been observed arguing loudly with and hanging up on a client on more than

one occasion while walk-in clients are seated in the reception area.

A number of solicitors have reported having received informal complaints from clients

regarding being given conflicting information over the phone from reception desk staff and

solicitors support staff about their solicitorswhereabouts, such as being told by reception

desk staff that they are out of the office at Court while being informed by support staff that

they are engaged in a meeting at the office.

Reception desk staff have informally complained on a number of occasions that solicitors

and their support staff are failing to regularly provide them with updated information as to

their whereabouts for logging in the paper diary meaning that they are unable to convey

the correct details in that regard to clients.

The partners are concerned about the potentially deleterious impact the above issues are having

on the firms reputation, particularly in the local community, for friendly, efficient and

professional service. Two of the firms best repeat local business clients are amongst those that

have raised formal complaints referred to in the first bullet point above and, while the designated

complaints officer has managed in this instance to placate the complaining clients in this instance,

it is felt by the partners that the reception desk performance issues must be investigated and

addressed immediately in order to avoid the inevitable financial consequences, including losing

key clients and damage to the firms goodwill, should the problems continue.


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Table 1.

Identified Performance Gaps

Performanc

e Gap:Description

Desired State Actual State Probable root

cause(s)

Type (Gilberts

BehavioralEngineering

Model)

Delayed call

answering atreception

desk

Incoming calls

answered within1 minute and, if

the client is put

on hold, dealt

with within 5minutes of the

initial call.

Incoming

calls failing tobe answered

within 2

minutes, with

a number ofremaining

unanswered.

Clients onhold waiting

up to 10

minutes for

calls to bedealt with.

Lack of clear

expectations/standards in relation to call

waiting times. Lack

of supervision and

feedback in thatregard.

Inadequate tools and

resources: call

forwarding service

presently utilizedmay be deficient,

inadequate staff to

deal with high call

volume in a timelyfashion.

Lack of clear callanswering

policies/procedures.

Environmental:

Information

Resources

Resources

Reception

desk staff

takinginadequate

information

from clientsover the

phone

Reception desk

take brief details

of incomingcaller query and,

in relation to

existing clients,case reference

number, clients

name and, ifknown, casehandlers name.

Reception desk

to use Solcase tolook up

appropriate

handler where

Reception

desk staff are

simply takingdetails of

clients

surnames andthe case

handler or

departmentthe clientwishes to be

transferred to.

This results incalls often

being

transferred to

Lack of clear

expectations/standard

s in relation to detailsto be taken. Lack of

supervision and

feedback in relationto expectations.

Inadequate tools andresources: scripts,lists of information to

be taken, job aids,

standard informationforms.

Lack of skills and

knowledge relating to

Environmental:

Information

Resources

Individual:


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not known to

transfer clients tothe right person.

the wrong

person.

how to use Solcase

case managementsystem to locate

relevant details.

Skills and

knowledge

Reception

desk stafftakinginaccurate

information

from clientsover the

phone

Reception desk

staff ensure thatthe information,particularly the

clients name, is

correct by askingthem to spell the

same out if they

are unsure.

Reception

desk staff arefrequentlynoting down

clients names

incorrectlyleading to

confusion and

wasted time.

Lack of clear

expectations/standards in relation to clientdetails noting. Lack

of supervision and


Lack of clear client

details notingpolicies/procedures.

Inadequate tools andresources: telephoneequipment may be

outdated, volume

may not beadjustable.

Given the age someof the reception desk

staff, they may have

physical limitations

in the form of hearingproblems.

Environmental:

Information

Resources

Resources

Individual:

Capacity

Confusinggeneric/

outdated

answerphonegreetings on

solicitors and

support stafftelephones

Solicitors andsupport staff

update

personalizedanswerphone

messages when

they are out ofthe office for a

period of longer

than one day,providing detailsof when they will

be available to

return messages.

Severalsolicitors and

support staff

have notrecorded

personalized

answerphonemessages

stating their

name. Anumber ofthose with

personalized

answerphone

messages arefailing to

regularly

Lack of clearexpectations/standard

s in relation to

answerphonemessage format. Lack

of supervision and


Lack of clearanswerphone

message updating

policies/ procedures.

Environmental:

Information

Resources


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update the

answerphonemessages.

Inadequate tools and

resources: scripts, jobaids, prompts.

Lack of consequences

for failing to adhereto answerphone

message updatingprocedures.

Resources

Consequences

Delays/failures to

respond to

answerphone

messages leftby clients by

solicitors and

support staff

Solicitors andsupport staff to

respond to

answerphone

messages within24 hours.

A number ofsolicitors and

support staff

are failing to

check andrespond to

their

answerphonemessages atleast 2 times

per day.

Lack of clearexpectations/standard

s in relation to

checking and

responding toanswerphone

messages. Lack of

supervision andfeedback in thatregard.

Lack of answerphonemessage checking

and response

procedures setting outstandard timeframes.

Inadequate time to

deal withanswerphone

messages due to high

workload.

Lack of consequencesfor failing to adhere

to answerphone

message updating

procedures.

Large workloads

could be resulting in

solicitors affordinganswerphone

message answering

being a low priorityas the task does not

Environmental:

Information

Resources

Resources

Consequences

Individual:

Motivation


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require immediate

attention.

Failure to

providereception

desk staffwith timelyupdates

Solicitors and

support staff toprovide regular

updates toreception deskstaff regarding

times out of the

office.

Many

solicitors andsupport staff

are failing toprovideregular

updates

resulting inthe reception

desk diary

being out of

date. Thus,clients are

being

provided withconflictinginformation

regarding

solicitorswhereabouts.

Lack of clear

expectations/standards in relation to

updating receptiondesk staff with diaryinformation. Lack of

supervision and


Lack of reception

desk diary updatingprocedures.

Lack of consequencesfor failing to adhereto reception desk

diary updating

procedures.

Large workloads

could be resulting insolicitors, support

staff and reception

desk staff affording

reception desk diaryupdating a low

priority.

Environmental:

Information

Resources

Consequences

Individual:

Motivation

Poor/abrupt

telephone

manner:reception

desk staff

Members of

reception desk

staff to deal withincoming callers

in a friendly

manner. Wherecallers are

contentious or

difficult, they areto be dealt withpolitely and

transferred to

either their

solicitor or thedesignated

complaints

Reception

desk staff are

arguing withdifficult

clients and, on

a number ofoccasions,

have hung up

on them mid-call.

Lack of clear

expectations/standard

s in relation todealing with difficult

clients. Lack of

supervision andfeedback in that

regard.

Lack of difficultclient call handling

procedures.

Inadequate receptiondesk staff to deal with

high call volume

Environmental:

Information

Resources

Resources


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officer for help

with their issue.

resulting in

frustration.

Lack of consequences

for inappropriate

telephone handlingbehavior.

Lack of knowledge

and skills in relation

to dealing with

difficult clients overthe telephone.

Intolerant/impatient/

argumentative

personality types

Consequences

Individual:

Skills and

knowledge

Capacity

Table 2.

Performance Gaps Investigation

Performance gap:

Description

Technique/tool for further

investigation

What you hope to learn

Delayed call answering at

reception desk

Analysis of existing equipment

Analysis of existing data

Analysis of existing

documentation

Structured interviews

Is there a call waiting system

in place and how does it

operate? Is the systemadequate to deal with the call

volume?

Review of existing complaints

will reveal the major issues

clients are experiencing withcall waiting times.

Review of standard telephone

answering polices/procedures

will reveal whetherexpectations are clearly stated.

What supervision and supportis provided to reception desk

staff?

Interviews with reception desk

staff will clarify whether they


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are experiencing issues with

keeping up with high callvolume, staffing level issues,

their understanding of

expectations, knowledge gaps

and equipment issues.Reception desk stafftaking inadequate

information from clients

over the phone

Analysis of existingdocumentation and resources


Review of standard telephoneanswering policies/procedures

will reveal whether

expectations in relation toadequate information are

clearly stated. Are standard

information forms, job aids or

prompts available to assistreception desk staff?

Interviews with reception deskstaff will clarify whether theyare aware of the information

they are supposed to be taking

(knowledge gaps) and willreveal other reasons for failure

adequate information.

Reception desk staff

taking inaccurate

information from clientsover the phone

Review of existing equipment

Review of existing

documentation and resources

Review of telephone

equipment will assist to

ascertain whether theperformance gap is due to

problems in that regard.

Review of standard telephoneanswering policies/procedures

will reveal whether

expectations in relation togathering correct information

over the phone are clearly

stated. Are standardinformation forms, job aids or

prompts available to assist

reception desk staff?Confusing

generic/outdated

answerphone greetingson solicitors and support

staff telephones


documentation

Review of the answerphone

messages of solicitors and

support staff as they are willhelp to reveal the scope of the

problem.


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Review of existing

documentation and resources

Review of standard

answerphonepolicies/procedures will reveal

whether expectations in

relation to information to be

provided in answerphonemessages are clearly stated. If

procedures and policies are inplace, how are they enforced?

What are the consequences for

non-compliance?

Delays/failures to

respond to answerphone

messages left by clientsby solicitors and support

staff


documentation


Client survey

Review of standard

answerphone

policies/procedures will revealwhether expectations in

relation to answerphone

message response times areclearly stated. If proceduresand policies are in place, how

are they enforced? What are

the consequences for non-compliance?

Interviews with solicitors andsupport staff will clarify the

reasons behind late responses

to answerphone messages

when they occur such as lowprioritization of the task due to

high workload.

Interviews with clients will

reveal additional useful

information relating to thescope of the issues such as

answerphone response wait

times, impact and frequency.

Out of date receptiondesk diary Analysis of existingdocumentation and resources Review of the office diary andcomparison with solicitorsdiaries will reveal the scope of

the issue, particularly which

solicitors are failing to provide

regular updates. How dosolicitors keep their diaries

presently (paper/electronic?)


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is there a standardized

procedure in place across thefirm? Is there a more efficient

system or automated updating

system available such as

linking solicitors electronicdiaries to a central reception

desk diary?

Poor/abrupt telephone

manner: reception deskstaff


documentation

Observation

Review of standard

policies/procedures related todealing with difficult clients

will reveal whether

expectations in that regard are

clearly stated. If proceduresand policies are in place, how

are they enforced? What are

the consequences for non-compliance? What callhandling training has been

received by reception desk

staff, and when?

Observing reception desk staff

handling calls will reveal thescope of the problem by

helping to identify which

reception desk staff are

causing the problem as well asany knowledge gaps that may

lead to the development of

some training to address thesame.

EDCI 528 Performance Analysis, Reception Desk/Call Answering Inefficiency

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