SCRIPTS WEEK 5

PROBLEMS

Person 1 (Shop/sales assistant)

Well, I think the biggest problem is when we have late deliveries. Then there isn’t enough stock to sell to customers. We also sometimes get difficult customers who want you to spend a lot of time with them, or who want their money back for no reason!

Person 2 (Office worker)

I have big problems with the computer system. It seems to crash once or twice a week. When this happens, it means I can’t work. The other big problem is we have a lot of documents, which are sometimes difficult to find. It’s a big office, and a lot of documents go missing when people don’t return them.

Person 3 (Call centre worker)

Well, we’re always very busy. It’s never quiet. I guess the worst problem, apart from that, is people who are rude to you on the phone. People think they can say anything because they can’t see you. Sometimes it’s difficult to be polite to all the customers.

Person 4 (Factory worker)

Well, it can be very noisy at times, but for me, that’s not a problem. I think it’s normal. The worst problem is when the machinery breaks down and we can’t work. We have to stop production and call the engineers. The other big problem is when customers want to change their orders.

TYPICAL WORK PROBLEMS

I: What are typical work problems for you?

JK: As a consultant, I run my own business and I'm often on my own, but my clients have quite complicated problems that they need to resolve. My biggest problem is having enough time to do a good jobwith the amount of work I've got to do. And then I also face urgent requests for help when I'm already very busy.

I: What are the biggest problems in companies you know?

JK: Most of the companies I work with are big, international companies facing complicated situations. Probably the biggest problem they face is the amount of change they have to go through all the time, and they have to go through that change fast, at speed.

Secondly, they find it very difficult to plan their needs and therefore also to plan their resources; in other words, their staff, the equipment, the property, the money they need to satisfy their customers. And their customers expect them to reduce their prices at the same time as these companies have increasing costs. So they have to be much more productive, much more efficient, all the time.

I: Can you give me an example of a problem you've solved?

JK: My customers usually ask me to help them solve complicated problems, where lots of people need to be involved in designing the solution. Recently, there was a computer system that had to be introduced that affected millions of customers and their bills.

At the last moment, a problem arose that affected the whole system. I brought the technical team, the business team, the project team and the suppliers together in one room, and by understanding the whole problem, and by understanding each others' individual problems, we came up with the solution that solved the problem altogether.