Tools
The formulas behind a support operation
Root cause frameworks and the arithmetic of staffing, quality and cost. Every tool runs in your browser, saves nothing, and needs no account. Work through one and print it, share the link, or have the result emailed to you.
Root cause analysis
- 5 Whys
Walk a problem back to the system that produced it
Problem → why → why → why → why → why → root cause → countermeasure
- Fishbone (Ishikawa)
Spread the possible causes across six categories before choosing
Effect ← People · Process · Systems · Information · Measurement · Environment
- A3 problem solving
One page: background, cause, countermeasure, follow-up
Background → current condition → goal → root cause → countermeasures → plan → follow-up
Contact centre
- Staffing (Erlang C)
Agents needed to hit a service level, before and after shrinkage
A = contacts × AHT ÷ period · SL = 1 − C(n,A) · e^(−(n−A)·T ÷ AHT)
- Shrinkage & FTE
What paid time is not on contacts, and the headcount it costs
FTE = productive hours ÷ (contracted hours × (1 − shrinkage))
- Occupancy & utilisation
How hard the team is working, and how much of it you are buying
Occupancy = handling ÷ available · Utilisation = available ÷ paid
Next step
These are the same models we run your operation on.
The tools are free and stay free. If you would rather someone else ran the numbers and the team behind them, that is the conversation to have.