Decisions & execution: the link between strategy and daily work

A decision right specifies who can decide what, up to what threshold, on what criteria and with what record. When customer-facing teams do not have this right, every non-standard request is escalated: the customer waits, calls back, then complains. A delegation matrix built from real escalations, approved by senior management and checked by sampling, reduces delays without weakening risk control.

6 min read

First-contact resolution is the share of requests settled during the first exchange, with no repeat contact from the customer about the same issue. It depends less on the agent than on the organisation: decision rights, information available at the point of action, an up-to-date knowledge base, commitments from other departments and follow-up routines. To measure it honestly, combine the customer's confirmation with the absence of a repeat contact within a period set in advance, across all channels.

7 min read

A lead measure tracks an action the team controls within the week and that predicts the result it is aiming for; a lag measure tracks that result, but too late to correct course. A team executes better when it tracks two or three lead measures on a scoreboard it keeps itself, reviews them every week, and revises them as soon as they stop predicting the result or start being gamed.

7 min read

A bonus sometimes rewards the opposite of what management asks for: responsible selling is required, but volume is what gets paid. Teams then follow the pay. To avoid this, map what is actually rewarded, test how each target could be hit without serving the customer, add quality thresholds and customer-harm controls, balance volume and quality measures, and involve the people concerned.

7 min read

The KAPER Cadence is a weekly routine of about 45 minutes in which a manager and their team follow the five steps of the KAPER method: look at the week's facts, choose a single priority, assign dated actions, pass on a capability and check what previous actions have changed. It turns a senior management decision into repeated practice, without depending on a consultant.

6 min read

Training passes on knowledge, but a team only acts autonomously when five conditions are met: knowledge, the authority to decide, information at the moment of action, aligned incentives and a routine that keeps the practice alive. When even one is missing, training produces little lasting effect. The right reflex is to diagnose the missing condition before choosing the response.

6 min read