We ask about the last time it went wrong.
Not how it's supposed to work. How it actually went: who touched it, what got written down, what got skipped when everyone was busy.
- "Walk me through the last order, from the first call to the invoice."
- "Who does this when that person is on holiday?"
- "Where do you type the same thing twice?"
We write down who holds what.
Every step, in order, with a name next to it. We don't guess.
You get it on paper the same day.
- The problems
- The steps
- Who does what
- What works
- What doesn't
- What's still open
You read it and correct it before we change anything. People always remember something on the second read. That's the point.
