call center and queueing
Attitude and the Pyschology of Queueing
I took the kids to see a movie at a nearby dollar theater many weeks ago. We saw Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium and some parts of that movie has stayed with me. I thought that the movie was actually very good: it was an overall very good feel-good movie, with a very good message. One key take-away for me was the role of a good attitude and how that can make a big, big difference in life.
I took the kids to see a movie at a nearby dollar theater many weeks ago. We saw Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium and some parts of that movie has stayed with me. I thought that the movie was actually very good: it was an overall very good feel-good movie, with a very good message. One key take-away for me was the role of a good attitude and how that can make a big, big difference in life.
Queueing, Waiting, Haunted Houses, & Halloween
This weekend my wife and I waited in the cold, wet, Utah winter weather to go through a haunted house — The Castle of Chaos. In the course of trying to enjoy an annual American holiday tradition — Halloween — I received another lesson on the Psychology of Queueing instead.
Before I tell my story, let me first remind the reader of the notion of Queueing, the mathematics behind it, and why we should care.
This weekend my wife and I waited in the cold, wet, Utah winter weather to go through a haunted house — The Castle of Chaos. In the course of trying to enjoy an annual American holiday tradition — Halloween — I received another lesson on the Psychology of Queueing instead.
Before I tell my story, let me first remind the reader of the notion of Queueing, the mathematics behind it, and why we should care.
Shmula Now at eBay
I resigned from my previous position with Ancestry.com; after considering 3 offers, I accepted a position with eBay. Our family will still be in Utah (eBay has a large office here), but I’ll most likely travel to other offices also. I’m very, very excited to be at eBay. From a high level, I’ll be leading the efforts to improve the customer experience by implementing Lean, Six Sigma, and Service Operations best practices. I’m really looking forward to the challenge and opportunity.
I resigned from my previous position with Ancestry.com; after considering 3 offers, I accepted a position with eBay. Our family will still be in Utah (eBay has a large office here), but I’ll most likely travel to other offices also. I’m very, very excited to be at eBay. From a high level, I’ll be leading the efforts to improve the customer experience by implementing Lean, Six Sigma, and Service Operations best practices. I’m really looking forward to the challenge and opportunity.
Complexity: Different Ways, Same Output, or is It?
There are outputs and the processes that produce those outputs. In a business, if there are many processes that produce the same output — that can be a silent killer for a business.
There are outputs and the processes that produce those outputs. In a business, if there are many processes that produce the same output — that can be a silent killer for a business.
Multi-Tasking Leads to Lower Productivity
There is a predisposition for firms and people to think that multi-tasking is heroic, leads to more productive employees and, is generally, becoming more and more the accepted norm in business. All of this would be nice, except that multi-tasking actually leads to lower productivity and lower morale.
To belabor my point, here is a recent job posting I found on monster by doing a search on “multi-tasking”:
There is a predisposition for firms and people to think that multi-tasking is heroic, leads to more productive employees and, is generally, becoming more and more the accepted norm in business. All of this would be nice, except that multi-tasking actually leads to lower productivity and lower morale.
To belabor my point, here is a recent job posting I found on monster by doing a search on “multi-tasking”:
YouTube’s Queueing Properties
YouTube has many intriguing queueing properties. This article will primarily look at the mpeg-to-swf conversion and study out the queueing properties of that process.
Assumptions and Data
Below is a very simple, high-level process map of the steps to upload a video on YouTube:
In summary, the user does the following:
- User uploads video
- User waits while video is uploaded
YouTube has many intriguing queueing properties. This article will primarily look at the mpeg-to-swf conversion and study out the queueing properties of that process.
Assumptions and Data
Below is a very simple, high-level process map of the steps to upload a video on YouTube:
In summary, the user does the following:
- User uploads video
- User waits while video is uploaded
Toyota Factory in Ontario, Canada
The guys at Gemba pointed me to this great video on the Toyota factory in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.
Check it out:
[youtube]YTQtoeP_1oU[/youtube]
For more on Lean, Agile, Six Sigma, or Operations in general, please view these articles:
The guys at Gemba pointed me to this great video on the Toyota factory in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.
Check it out:
[youtube]YTQtoeP_1oU[/youtube]
For more on Lean, Agile, Six Sigma, or Operations in general, please view these articles:
Comment on Qwest Customer Service
My internet connection broke this weekend. I called customer service and was connected to a customer service representative in the Philippines. He was very nice, cordial, and really wanted to help. But, a few things were broken in the communication:
- It is fine to source offshore services to places like the Philippines, India, and elsewhere. But, please learn how to speak English. I tried to speak proper, non-slang English to help the customer service representative, but the customer services representative still had a difficult time understanding.
My internet connection broke this weekend. I called customer service and was connected to a customer service representative in the Philippines. He was very nice, cordial, and really wanted to help. But, a few things were broken in the communication:
- It is fine to source offshore services to places like the Philippines, India, and elsewhere. But, please learn how to speak English. I tried to speak proper, non-slang English to help the customer service representative, but the customer services representative still had a difficult time understanding.
Toyota Motor Corporation: Company History
Since some of your are familiar, practitioners, or die-hard fans of the Toyota Production System, I thought this history would be a nice reminder of how the company came to be the leader that it is. The data is from 2001 — so it’s a outdated, but it provides a decent history on the company.
For more information on Lean Manufacturing, here are 43 other articles that might be of interest to you. Enjoy.
Since some of your are familiar, practitioners, or die-hard fans of the Toyota Production System, I thought this history would be a nice reminder of how the company came to be the leader that it is. The data is from 2001 — so it’s a outdated, but it provides a decent history on the company.
For more information on Lean Manufacturing, here are 43 other articles that might be of interest to you. Enjoy.
Variation for Dummies
Most organizations collect and report on metrics that are not descriptive of their processes. Some of you may have noticed that most metrics that are reported are the “average” and some organization also use the “median”. Most people do not understand elementary statistics and their application to business. Here is the truth of the matter: Your customers do not feel the average — they feel the variation.
Most organizations collect and report on metrics that are not descriptive of their processes. Some of you may have noticed that most metrics that are reported are the “average” and some organization also use the “median”. Most people do not understand elementary statistics and their application to business. Here is the truth of the matter: Your customers do not feel the average — they feel the variation.
