ABB Assessment Tests

ABB Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You work on the returns desk of a clothing store. A customer wants to return a coat bought three weeks ago. The receipt shows it was bought in the sale, and sale items can be exchanged but not refunded, which is printed on the receipt. She says nobody told her at the till, she no longer wants the coat, and she is moving abroad next week, so an exchange or a credit note would be no use to her. She is polite but firm. Your duty manager is on the shop floor and can authorise exceptions. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her the policy is printed on the receipt so there is nothing that can be done, and suggest she is more careful about checking the terms in future.
   2. Explain the sale policy and the exchange option, and ask the duty manager whether a refund can be authorised in this case since the customer was not told at the till.
   3. Explain that sale items cannot be refunded, point to where it is printed on the receipt, and offer her an exchange or a credit note instead.
   4. Process the refund anyway, since she says she was not told at the till and arguing over one coat is not worth losing a customer.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Explain the sale policy and the exchange option, and ask the duty manager whether a refund can be authorised in this case since the customer was not told at the till.

   Least effective: A. Tell her the policy is printed on the receipt so there is nothing that can be done, and suggest she is more careful about checking the terms in future.

   A: Ignores the customer's actual need: it closes the matter with a correction of the customer's behaviour, when an exception route exists a few steps away. Adding a lecture to a refusal is a different order of poor service.

   C: Stops at the policy: the policy is correctly stated and stops there, when a duty manager who can authorise an exception is on the shop floor and has not been asked.

   D: Breaches confidentiality or process: the exception exists and belongs to the duty manager. Granting it yourself gets a defensible outcome by removing the control that governs it.

   The most effective response is to explain the sale policy and the exchange option, then ask the duty manager whether a refund can be authorised since she was not told at the till: the policy is what it is, but the store has someone on the floor who can authorise exceptions and a reason to consider one. Stating both the policy and the route is the complete answer. It beats explaining that sale items cannot be refunded and offering an exchange or credit note, because that applies the policy and stops, leaving an available remedy unasked for. It beats processing the refund anyway to avoid losing a customer, because a refund outside policy is the duty manager’s decision, and taking it yourself removes the control rather than using it. The least effective response is telling her the terms are printed on the receipt and that she should check them more carefully in future: it refuses, and adds advice, when an exception route exists a few steps away. That is worse than the exchange, which at least offers something, and worse than the unauthorised refund, which at least resolves it. The principle: state the policy, then use the escalation route the business provides rather than either stopping at the rule or going round it.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a receptionist at a dental practice. Part of your job is logging each patient’s arrival time, which the practice uses to report waiting times to the health board. A patient arrives forty minutes late for a check-up and is seen straight away. Your colleague on the desk, who joined the practice last month, says the waiting figures are already poor and suggests offhand that you log the arrival as on-time, since the patient was not kept waiting. She has never suggested anything like it before. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Log the correct arrival time and tell the practice manager that your colleague asked you to record it falsely so that she can deal with it as she sees fit.
   2. Log the arrival as on-time as your colleague suggests, since the patient was seen immediately and an accurate entry would make the practice's figures look worse than the service it actually gave.
   3. Leave the arrival time blank rather than enter either figure, so that the record is not falsified and the practice's monthly waiting figures are not dragged down by one late patient.
   4. Log the actual arrival time, and tell your colleague you are not willing to record something you know is untrue, whatever it does to this month's figures.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Log the actual arrival time, and tell your colleague you are not willing to record something you know is untrue, whatever it does to this month's figures.

   Least effective: B. Log the arrival as on-time as your colleague suggests, since the patient was seen immediately and an accurate entry would make the practice's figures look worse than the service it actually gave.

   A: Escalates prematurely: the entry is right and the point is made by making it. Turning a colleague's bad suggestion into a report before telling her what you think skips the conversation that would probably settle it.

   B: Falsifies a business record: the log is the practice's evidence to the health board, and entering a time you know is wrong is a deliberate misstatement. That is dishonesty, not a judgement call about presentation.

   C: Hides the problem: a blank is a quieter way of removing an inconvenient fact. The health board's figures still end up wrong, and nobody can see that a decision was taken.

   The most effective response is to log the actual arrival time and tell your colleague you are not willing to record something untrue: the log is a record the health board relies on, so it gets the true time, and saying so plainly settles the matter where it arose. It beats logging it correctly and telling the practice manager your colleague asked you to falsify it, because the record is already correct and the disagreement is one sentence away from being resolved; going straight to the manager makes a formal matter of something a direct answer handles. It beats leaving the arrival time blank, because an empty field achieves the same distortion your colleague asked for, only without leaving fingerprints, so the figures are still wrong and nobody can tell why. The least effective response is recording the arrival as on-time because the patient was seen immediately: it is the only response that puts a figure you know to be false into a record the practice reports externally, and the reasoning offered for it, that the service was fine, is exactly the reasoning that makes small falsifications easy. That is worse than the blank field, which at least refuses to write the lie, and worse than going to the manager, which is clumsy rather than dishonest. The principle: record what happened, and say plainly that you will not record what did not.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a production coordinator at a print and mail house. At 11am three things need you. A mailing of 20,000 renewal notices must reach the Royal Mail collection at 2pm or the legal notice period is missed. A colleague needs help fixing a jammed inserter on a different job. And your manager wants headcount figures for a meeting at noon. The renewal job needs ninety minutes of your attention. The headcount figures take fifteen minutes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Help your colleague with the jammed inserter first, since a stopped machine is costing time on the floor, then do the renewals and the headcount figures.
   2. Work on the renewals and the inserter together, moving between them, and do the headcount figures if the mailing is finished before the 2pm collection.
   3. Do the fifteen minutes of headcount figures for the noon meeting, then give the renewal mailing your full attention until the 2pm collection, and pass the inserter to another operator.
   4. Start the renewal mailing immediately and tell your manager the headcount figures will have to wait until after the 2pm collection.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Do the fifteen minutes of headcount figures for the noon meeting, then give the renewal mailing your full attention until the 2pm collection, and pass the inserter to another operator.

   Least effective: B. Work on the renewals and the inserter together, moving between them, and do the headcount figures if the mailing is finished before the 2pm collection.

   A: Abandons own committed work: an unquantified machine fix is taken on ahead of a ninety-minute job with a 2pm legal deadline, which leaves no margin if the jam takes longer than expected.

   B: Splits effort so nothing finishes: a mailing with a legal notice period is left to compete for attention with a machine fault, which risks missing a deadline that cannot be recovered and is the most costly of the four outcomes.

   D: Splits the wrong thing: it protects the deadline that matters and sacrifices a fifteen-minute task that fits inside the margin anyway, so the manager goes into a noon meeting without figures for no gain.

   The most effective response is to do the fifteen minutes of headcount figures for the noon meeting, then give the renewal mailing your full attention until the 2pm collection, and pass the inserter to another operator: there are three hours, the mailing needs ninety minutes of them and has a legal deadline, and the figures are needed at noon. Both fit if the short one goes first, and the machine fault is work someone else can take. It beats starting the mailing immediately and telling your manager the figures must wait, because that protects the same deadline while needlessly sacrificing a fifteen-minute task that comfortably fits. It beats helping your colleague with the jammed inserter first, because taking on a machine fault of unknown length ahead of a legally timed mailing risks the one deadline that cannot be moved. The least effective response is moving between the renewals and the inserter and fitting the figures in afterwards: it lets a mailing with a legal notice period compete for attention with a machine jam, which is the most likely way to miss the collection entirely. That is worse than the other two, which mis- sequence but keep the mailing whole. The principle: check what actually fits in the time, protect the deadline that cannot move, and hand off what someone else can do.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are an estimator at a car body repair shop. You and the workshop foreman, Gary, disagree about how long a repair should take. He has twice overridden your estimates and told customers a shorter time, and two cars have now been late, with the customers complaining to you. Gary has been at the shop twenty years. Four more estimates are due this week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Start telling customers a longer time than your estimate, so that even if Gary shortens it the promise still holds and nobody is disappointed.
   2. Leave the estimating to Gary, since he has twenty years in the workshop and the customers complain to you either way, and concentrate on the paperwork side.
   3. Talk to Gary this week, show him the two jobs that ran late against your estimates, and agree how the two of you will set a time before it is quoted to a customer.
   4. Take it to the shop owner, explaining that Gary has overridden your estimates twice and that customers have complained about late cars.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Talk to Gary this week, show him the two jobs that ran late against your estimates, and agree how the two of you will set a time before it is quoted to a customer.

   Least effective: B. Leave the estimating to Gary, since he has twenty years in the workshop and the customers complain to you either way, and concentrate on the paperwork side.

   A: Avoids the difficult conversation: padding every estimate hides the disagreement inside the quoted price and makes the shop look slower than it is, while Gary carries on overriding you.

   B: Abandons own committed work: it gives up the job you are employed to do because the disagreement is uncomfortable, so estimates keep being wrong, cars keep running late and nobody is accountable for the times.

   D: Escalates prematurely: Gary has not been shown that his shortened times are what made the cars late, and the first he would hear of it is from the owner, over something evidence and a conversation could settle.

   The most effective response is to talk to Gary this week, show him the two jobs that ran late against your estimates, and agree how the two of you will set a time before it is quoted: there is now evidence that the shortened times do not hold, and four more estimates this week will repeat it unless you agree a process. Showing him the jobs makes it about the work rather than about who is right. It beats taking it to the shop owner and explaining he has overridden your estimates twice, because Gary has never been shown the consequence, and going to the owner first turns a solvable working practice into a complaint about a twenty-year employee. It beats telling customers a longer time than your estimate so the promise holds either way, because padding conceals the problem inside customer quotes and leaves the shop quoting times it does not believe. The least effective response is leaving the estimating to Gary and concentrating on the paperwork: it abandons the role altogether, so the times stay wrong, customers keep being let down, and nobody owns the problem. That is worse than the other two, which handle it poorly but keep trying. The principle: take the evidence to the colleague, agree how the decision gets made, and only escalate if that fails.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You work in the post room of a large office. At 3pm the courier arrives for the daily collection, which leaves at 3.15. A colleague has just brought down a contract that must reach a client tomorrow, and it needs an envelope and a label, taking five minutes. Your supervisor has also asked you to reorganise the shelving before you finish, a job with no deadline. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Put the contract in the collection unlabelled so it makes the 3.15 courier, and sort out the paperwork with the courier company afterwards.
   2. Start the shelving as your supervisor asked, and put the contract in tomorrow's collection since it will still reach the client the following day.
   3. Prepare and label the contract straight away so it goes with the 3.15 collection, and start the shelving afterwards.
   4. Ask the courier to wait while you check with your supervisor whether the contract or the shelving should come first.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Prepare and label the contract straight away so it goes with the 3.15 collection, and start the shelving afterwards.

   Least effective: A. Put the contract in the collection unlabelled so it makes the 3.15 courier, and sort out the paperwork with the courier company afterwards.

   A: Acts recklessly with the client's document: an unlabelled contract in a courier bag is a document with no destination, so the one item that had to arrive tomorrow is the one most likely to be lost entirely.

   B: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: it decides the client's deadline can slip a day in order to start a job with no deadline at all, when five minutes would have caught the courier.

   D: Escalates prematurely: a five-minute job against a job with no deadline is a call you can make yourself, and holding the courier to ask it risks the whole collection.

   The most effective response is to prepare and label the contract straight away so it goes with the 3.15 collection, then start the shelving: the courier leaves at 3.15, the contract takes five minutes and has a client deadline tomorrow, and the shelving has no deadline at all. Doing the short, time-critical job first costs the shelving nothing. It beats starting the shelving and putting the contract in tomorrow’s collection, because that treats a task with no deadline as outranking a client contract that would have made today’s courier with ten minutes to spare. It beats asking the courier to wait while you check with your supervisor, because choosing between a five-minute job and an open-ended one does not need a supervisor, and asking risks holding the courier. The least effective response is putting the contract in the collection unlabelled: an unlabelled contract in a courier bag has no destination, so the attempt to save it is the thing most likely to lose it. That is worse than sending it tomorrow, which is a day late but safe, and worse than holding the courier, which at least keeps it intact. The principle: when a short task has a closing window and a long one has none, do the short one properly, then the long one.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a process operator at a waste water treatment works. Passing a monitoring screen that is not part of your round, you notice the outflow ammonia reading has been climbing steadily for three days and is close to the permitted limit. Exceeding it is reportable to the environmental regulator. The operator responsible is on leave. Your works manager is on site. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Adjust the aeration settings yourself to bring the ammonia down, since the trend is clear and the limit is close.
   2. Take the three-day trend to your works manager now, show him the readings and how close they are to the limit, and let him decide what to do.
   3. Record the trend in the shift log so the operator responsible picks it up when he returns from leave next week.
   4. Leave it, since the screen is not on your round, the reading is still inside the permitted limit and the plant's alarms would trigger if it went over.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Take the three-day trend to your works manager now, show him the readings and how close they are to the limit, and let him decide what to do.

   Least effective: D. Leave it, since the screen is not on your round, the reading is still inside the permitted limit and the plant's alarms would trigger if it went over.

   A: Acts outside own authority: changing process settings on a plant running near a permitted limit can drive the reading the wrong way, and the works manager has not been told the trend exists.

   C: Delays the decision: the log reaches the right person on the wrong day. The reading is close to a reportable limit now, and next week is after any breach would have happened.

   D: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: a three-day climb towards a reportable limit is exactly the signal that precedes a breach, and relying on the alarm means acting only once the limit has already been exceeded.

   The most effective response is to take the three-day trend to your works manager now, show him the readings and how close they are to the limit, and let him decide: a steady climb towards a reportable limit is a developing breach rather than a stable reading, you are the only person who has noticed with the responsible operator away, and he can act today. It beats adjusting the aeration settings yourself to bring the ammonia down, because that is a process decision beyond your authority on a plant running close to a limit, and could make the reading worse. It beats recording the trend in the shift log for the operator returning next week, because that arrives after the breach it should have prevented. The least effective response is leaving it because the reading is still inside the permitted limit and the alarms would trigger: it waits for an alarm that by definition sounds only once the limit has been exceeded and the breach is already reportable. That is worse than the other two, which act wrongly or slowly but do act. The principle: a trend towards a limit is information somebody needs before the limit is reached, so take it to whoever can act while it is still preventable.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a sales assistant at a garden centre. Your manager asked you this morning to price and shelve a delivery of spring bulbs before you finish at 5pm; the bulbs are not on promotion and no customer is waiting for them. At 2pm the till supervisor tells you the card terminal on the main till has failed, a queue is building at the single working till, and you are the only other member of staff trained to open the second one. Your manager is running a planting workshop outside for the next hour. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Open the second till straight away to clear the queue, then go back to the bulbs and let your manager know afterwards that the pricing may run past 5pm.
   2. Carry on pricing the bulbs because your manager asked for them personally, and leave the till supervisor to manage the queue without mentioning that you are trained on the second till.
   3. Serve at the second till between trips to the stockroom, pricing a few trays of bulbs each time the queue drops, so that both jobs keep moving through the afternoon.
   4. Interrupt your manager's planting workshop to ask whether the bulbs or the till queue should come first, and wait for her decision before doing anything else.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Open the second till straight away to clear the queue, then go back to the bulbs and let your manager know afterwards that the pricing may run past 5pm.

   Least effective: B. Carry on pricing the bulbs because your manager asked for them personally, and leave the till supervisor to manage the queue without mentioning that you are trained on the second till.

   B: Hides the problem: you hold the one fact that would fix the queue and you withhold it, so the supervisor cannot solve a problem she does not know is solvable. That is concealment, not a priority call.

   C: Splits effort so nothing finishes: customers are waiting now and the queue only clears if someone stays on the till, so stepping away repeatedly leaves the queue growing and the bulbs still unpriced.

   D: Escalates prematurely: a queue at the only working till against unpriced stock nobody is waiting for is a call you can make yourself, and interrupting a customer workshop costs more than it settles.

   The most effective response is to open the second till straight away and tell your manager afterwards: customers are waiting now, the bulbs are waiting for nobody, and the pricing deadline is internal and movable while the queue is neither. Telling her afterwards keeps her informed without pulling her out of a workshop. It beats serving at the second till between trips to the stockroom, because serving in bursts never clears a queue; the till needs someone sitting at it, and dividing yourself leaves both jobs half done. It beats interrupting her planting workshop to ask which comes first, because this is a straightforward call between a waiting customer and a task nobody is waiting on, and it does not need a manager pulled away from a customer event to make it. The least effective response is carrying on with the bulbs without mentioning that you are trained on the second till: you are the only other trained operator and you keep that to yourself, so the supervisor is left unable to fix something you could have fixed in seconds. That is worse than serving in bursts, which at least serves some customers, and worse than asking your manager, which at least surfaces the clash to someone. The principle: when one task has people waiting on it and the other does not, serve the people, then tell the person whose deadline slipped.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You work in a florist’s shop. It is 9am. A funeral tribute must be delivered to a church by 11am and still needs an hour’s work. A wedding order for Saturday needs its flowers conditioning today, which takes forty minutes and can be done any time before closing. A customer has just walked in wanting a hand-tied bouquet, which takes fifteen minutes. You are alone until noon. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Make a simpler version of the funeral tribute so it takes half the time, then serve the customer and condition the wedding flowers comfortably before noon.
   2. Make the customer's bouquet first since she is waiting in the shop, then the funeral tribute, then condition the wedding flowers.
   3. Tell the customer the bouquet will be about an hour, start the funeral tribute so it is ready for 11am, then make the bouquet and condition the wedding flowers.
   4. Condition the wedding flowers first while they are fresh from the delivery, then make the funeral tribute and the bouquet before noon.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell the customer the bouquet will be about an hour, start the funeral tribute so it is ready for 11am, then make the bouquet and condition the wedding flowers.

   Least effective: A. Make a simpler version of the funeral tribute so it takes half the time, then serve the customer and condition the wedding flowers comfortably before noon.

   A: Reduces the work rather than the schedule: it quietly downgrades a funeral tribute the family ordered and paid for, to buy time for jobs with no deadline, and the family find out at the church.

   B: Delays the decision: fifteen minutes for the bouquet leaves only forty-five for an hour's work on a tribute that must reach a church by 11am, so the fixed deadline is put at risk by the flexible one.

   D: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: it puts forty minutes of work that can be done any time before closing ahead of a tribute with a church service at 11am.

   The most effective response is to tell the customer the bouquet will be about an hour, start the funeral tribute so it is ready for 11am, then make the bouquet and condition the wedding flowers: the tribute needs an hour and a church service fixes the deadline absolutely, so it has to start now. The other two both fit afterwards, and telling her the wait means she can choose whether to stay. It beats making her bouquet first because she is waiting in the shop, since fifteen minutes spent first leaves forty-five for an hour’s work, which loses the one deadline that cannot move. It beats conditioning the wedding flowers first while they are fresh from the delivery, because conditioning can be done any time before closing and the tribute cannot. The least effective response is making a simpler version of the funeral tribute so it takes half the time: it delivers something smaller than the family ordered in order to create time for tasks with no deadline, and they discover it at the service. That is worse than the other two, which sequence badly but deliver the work that was ordered. The principle: start the job whose deadline cannot move and whose duration you know, and tell the person waiting how long they will wait.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are an office assistant at a plumbing and heating firm. This morning the operations manager emailed asking you to compile last quarter’s supplier invoices for a cost review he is running later this week. As you begin, an engineer phones: he is at a customer’s home and cannot start a boiler repair until you email him the parts authorisation, which means finding the customer’s warranty record, about twenty minutes’ work. He and the customer are waiting. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Decide the operations manager's request should come first because it came from senior management, finish compiling the invoices, and tell the engineer to expect the authorisation this afternoon.
   2. Alternate between the two tasks, looking up the warranty record in between batches of invoices, so that both the engineer and the operations manager see steady progress.
   3. Tell the engineer the authorisation is already on its way so he stops chasing, then carry on with the invoices and actually send it once they are finished.
   4. Send the engineer's authorisation first, since he and the customer are blocked until it arrives, then return to the invoices, which are not needed until later in the week.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Send the engineer's authorisation first, since he and the customer are blocked until it arrives, then return to the invoices, which are not needed until later in the week.

   Least effective: C. Tell the engineer the authorisation is already on its way so he stops chasing, then carry on with the invoices and actually send it once they are finished.

   A: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: it ranks the manager's request first because of seniority, when his own email says the review is later this week, inventing an urgency he never expressed while two people stand waiting.

   B: Splits effort so nothing finishes: the authorisation is a single twenty-minute job, and breaking it into fragments between invoice batches stretches the engineer's and customer's wait far beyond what doing it in one go would take.

   C: Is dishonest to the engineer's face: claiming the authorisation is already on its way buys quiet at the cost of the truth, leaving him and the customer waiting on something that is not coming. That is deception, not a defensible ordering of tasks.

   The most effective response is to send the engineer’s authorisation first and then return to the invoices: he and the customer are blocked right now, the authorisation takes about twenty minutes, and the invoices are not needed until the review later in the week, so urgency and importance both point the same way. It beats finishing the invoices because the request came from senior management, since that invents an urgency the operations manager never expressed and ranks his request first on seniority while two people stand waiting. It beats alternating between the two tasks, because that chops a single short job into fragments and stretches the engineer’s and customer’s wait well beyond the twenty minutes it needs. The least effective response is telling the engineer the authorisation is already on its way when it is not: unlike putting the invoices first, which at least gives him an honest timeline, and unlike alternating, which at least makes real progress on the authorisation, it tells him a straightforward lie and leaves him and the customer waiting on something that is not coming. The principle: order work by real urgency and stated need, since a person blocked now outranks a task wanted later in the week, and never manage the gap with a lie.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are an administrator at a driving instructor training company. A candidate is booked for an assessment on Thursday. On Tuesday the examiner tells you he cannot attend and the next available date is in three weeks. The candidate has already paid and has told you he has a job offer conditional on passing this month. He is contactable. Your centre manager is available today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Ring the candidate today, explain the examiner cannot attend and the next date is three weeks away, and ask your centre manager what else can be offered given his job offer.
    2. Leave the booking in place and tell him on Thursday when he arrives, since another examiner may become available before then and there is no point worrying him early.
    3. Rebook him into the next available assessment in three weeks and email him the new date, apologising for the change and confirming that his fee carries over.
    4. Email him today to say Thursday's assessment has to be moved and that you will confirm a new date once the examiner's availability has been finalised.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: A. Ring the candidate today, explain the examiner cannot attend and the next date is three weeks away, and ask your centre manager what else can be offered given his job offer.

    Least effective: B. Leave the booking in place and tell him on Thursday when he arrives, since another examiner may become available before then and there is no point worrying him early.

    B: Hides the problem / silent deadline slip: he travels to an assessment you know is not happening, and loses two days in which he could have sought an alternative. Betting his job offer on an examiner appearing is concealment.

    C: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: it fixes the diary and ignores the fact he told you about, a job offer conditional on passing this month, which the new date defeats.

    D: Delays the message: it reaches him in time and withholds the three week gap, which is the fact that collides with his job offer and the only one he can act on.

    The most effective response is to ring the candidate today, explain the examiner cannot attend and the next date is three weeks away, and ask your centre manager what else can be offered: he has a job offer conditional on passing this month, a three-week delay defeats it, and she may have options, another examiner or another centre, that you do not. Telling him today while that is being explored is the only response that engages with what is actually at stake. It beats rebooking him into the next available assessment and emailing the new date, because that treats a problem about his job offer as a diary entry. It beats emailing to say Thursday has to move with a date to follow, because withholding the three-week gap keeps from him the one fact he needs to act on. The least effective response is leaving the booking in place and telling him when he arrives on Thursday: it lets him travel to an assessment that is not happening and burns two days of a deadline he told you about. That is worse than the other two, which respond inadequately but in time. The principle: when someone has told you what is riding on a date, give them the bad news at once and take the problem to whoever might have another route.