Select a workflow with an observable beginning, an accountable owner and an outcome you can verify. Use the table below as a starting hypothesis, then replace it with your own records.
| Your immediate problem | Sensible first scope | Keep outside the initial scope | Primary measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missed heating-service enquiries | Overflow enquiry capture and callback requests | Diagnosis, unrestricted dispatch and unapproved prices | Additional suitable completed jobs |
| Commercial HVAC quotation backlog | Approved follow-up on a defined quote queue | Repricing, technical promises and contract negotiation | Incremental completed-job contribution |
| Maintenance reminder administration | Verified due-date list and approved reminders | Automatic changes to contract terms | Net handling time and completed renewals |
| Heat-pump enquiry qualification | Collect agreed survey-preparation information | Final suitability, design and grant guarantees | Complete, usable survey briefs |
| Duplicate office entry | Draft records for human approval | Unrestricted changes across systems | Net minutes saved and correction rate |
What should the baseline contain?
For an initial diagnostic, review four to eight weeks of existing records where available, supported by two working weeks of staff observation. These are suggested starting windows: they are not sufficient evidence for every business, season or sales cycle.
- [ ] Name the owner/MD as budget holder and an office or service manager as workflow owner.
- [ ] Count unique enquiries, not just telephone events.
- [ ] Separate new work, existing-job updates, suppliers, recruitment, spam and repeat callers.
- [ ] Record what the current callback process already recovers.
- [ ] Link suitable enquiries to bookings, cancellations, completed jobs and contribution.
- [ ] Record handling time, chasing time, corrections and complaints.
- [ ] Check usable capacity by service, geography, engineer competence and appointment duration.
- [ ] Mark unknown values explicitly rather than filling gaps with supplier assumptions.
Use a simple enquiry ledger: date → unique reference → service type → current response → booking → completion → contribution → correction time. Keep the identifying customer information in your controlled operational system.
For an adviser’s initial review, prefer aggregate figures or synthetic examples. If you share pseudonymised records, do not describe them as anonymous: ICO guidance states that pseudonymised information can remain personal data. (ico.org.uk)
What should stop the project here?
Our recommended stop conditions are:
- No named person can maintain booking rules or investigate exceptions.
- More enquiries would not translate into deliverable work, and no separate service benefit is defined.
- Nobody can distinguish extra work from work the office would have recovered anyway.
- The proposed benefit depends entirely on treating released staff time as reduced payroll.
Stage output: a one-page baseline and a clearly bounded problem. If that document cannot be written, do not request implementation quotations yet.
Sources cited on this page
- ico.org.uk ↗ico.org.uk