Hello all,
There’s a crêperie I visit occasionally. It’s take-away, so people line up and order their crepes. In low season a single person does everything: take your order, prepare your crepe and get payment. It works fine.
In high season, there are two persons making crepes (let’s call them Alice and Bob) and a third one getting payments (Charlie). The waiting time is considerable. Like many engineers and technical people, whenever I’m waiting somewhere having nothing to do, I tend to observe the processes. So I observe the crêperie’s processes.
It goes like this: when it’s your turn, you tell Alice or Bob your order. Let’s say it’s Alice. She starts preparing your order while still working on previous orders. After you get your crepe, you go to pay it. Charlie asks Alice: “How much is it for this guy?” Alice (who meanwhile is busy having three ongoing orders in her mind, and has been doing this for several hours non-stop) pauses, remembers your order, adds up the amount for each filling in her head, and tells Charlie the amount each of your crepes costs—you may have taken more than one.
Meanwhile I’m waiting and I’m thinking “Damn! This can’t be happening!” I’m estimating the rate of crepe production—which is always lower than demand in high season—and how much it would increase if Alice and Bob didn’t have to do calculations. How hard can it be to hire a fourth person (David) capable enough to get your order, calculate the amount, accept payment, write the order on a slip of paper, and queue up the slips for Alice and Bob? I determine that David’s monthly wage will pay off in a couple of days.
And now that I’m writing this down, I’m wondering: the businessman who owns the creperie doesn’t see all that. Maybe because he doesn’t have the luxury of observing his business during rush hours—if he’s around he’ll be helping with something rather than watching from outside, as I do. Is it possible that I’m also doing the same thing in my business? How can I make sure I’m observed when it’s least likely and most needed?
Regards,
Antonis