Yorkshire Water Assessment Tests

Yorkshire Water Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a mechanic in the workshop of a bicycle shop. A customer’s bike is booked in for a gear repair, agreed for collection on Saturday morning. She phones to confirm, mentioning she is riding a charity event on Sunday. Your supplier has just confirmed the replacement part cannot be delivered before the middle of next week, and no other stockist holds it. The shop keeps a small fleet of loan bikes for situations like this. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Explain that repairs depend on parts suppliers and there is nothing anyone can do, and point out that bikes for weekend events really need booking in earlier.
   2. Tell her the part cannot arrive before her event, apologise, and offer a loan bike set up for Sunday, with the repair finished next week.
   3. Promise the repair will be ready for Saturday as agreed, phone the supplier every day to push for an earlier delivery, and keep her updated on progress.
   4. Give her the supplier's phone number so she can chase the part herself, since the supplier can tell her first-hand whether an earlier delivery is possible.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell her the part cannot arrive before her event, apologise, and offer a loan bike set up for Sunday, with the repair finished next week.

   Least effective: A. Explain that repairs depend on parts suppliers and there is nothing anyone can do, and point out that bikes for weekend events really need booking in earlier.

   A: Blames the customer and dismisses her need: the delay is the supplier's, not hers, and telling her nothing can be done while a loan fleet sits available sends her away without a bike for Sunday, a service failure of attitude rather than just of stock.

   C: Over-promises: the supplier has already confirmed the part cannot arrive before the middle of next week, so promising Saturday commits to an outcome you cannot control and risks her discovering too late that she has no bike for Sunday.

   D: Passes responsibility to others: sending the customer to chase your supplier hands her the shop's problem, and since delivery before next week has already been ruled out, the calls would change nothing about her real need, which is a bike to ride on Sunday.

   The most effective response is to tell her the part cannot arrive before her event, apologise, and offer a loan bike set up for Sunday: the supplier has ruled out an earlier delivery, so the honest answer plus the one thing the shop can actually do meets her real need, riding the charity event, while the repair follows next week. It beats promising the repair for Saturday and chasing the supplier daily, because that promises a completion the supplier has already said is impossible, raising her hopes on an outcome you cannot control and risking her finding out too late to arrange anything else. It beats giving her the supplier’s number to chase the part herself, because the delivery date is already settled and that does nothing about Sunday. The least effective response is explaining that nothing can be done and that she should have booked earlier: unlike the Saturday promise, which at least tries to serve her and keeps her informed, and unlike handing her the supplier’s number, which at least engages with the part problem, it blames her for a delay that is not her fault and turns her away with nothing while a loan fleet sits available. The principle: when you cannot deliver what was agreed, say so honestly and meet the customer’s underlying need with what you can deliver.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a duty officer at a student halls of residence. A student tells you the fire door on the third floor stairwell has been propped open with a fire extinguisher for the past few days. You check and it is. The building has three hundred residents. Your accommodation manager is on call but off site, and the maintenance team start at 8am tomorrow. It is 9pm. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Close the fire door and return the extinguisher to its bracket now, then ring the accommodation manager to report that it has been propped for days.
   2. Log the issue for the maintenance team to deal with when they start at 8am tomorrow, and note that it has apparently been propped for several days.
   3. Put a notice on the door asking residents not to prop it open, and report it to the accommodation manager in the morning.
   4. Leave it until morning, since the door has apparently been propped for several days without incident and moving the extinguisher at night might leave it where residents cannot find it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Close the fire door and return the extinguisher to its bracket now, then ring the accommodation manager to report that it has been propped for days.

   Least effective: D. Leave it until morning, since the door has apparently been propped for several days without incident and moving the extinguisher at night might leave it where residents cannot find it.

   B: Delays the decision: the log is right for the repair and wrong for tonight. Three hundred residents sleep behind a fire door that cannot close.

   C: Passes responsibility to residents: a notice asks three hundred people to maintain a fire precaution, when closing the door yourself takes seconds and removes the risk outright.

   D: Stays silent about a known fire risk: a fire door that cannot close and an extinguisher out of its bracket are two failures at once, above three hundred sleeping residents, and the justification is that nothing has happened yet.

   The most effective response is to close the fire door and return the extinguisher to its bracket now, then ring the accommodation manager to report that it has been propped for days: those two actions remove two fire safety failures in seconds, and the pattern is a separate problem she needs tonight because it suggests the door will simply be propped again. It beats putting a notice on the door asking residents not to prop it, because that delegates a fire precaution to three hundred residents when you can restore it yourself immediately. It beats logging the issue for the maintenance team at 8am, because that addresses the repair and leaves the building unsafe overnight. The least effective response is leaving it until morning because nothing has gone wrong so far: it leaves a fire door incapable of closing and an extinguisher out of its bracket above three hundred sleeping residents. That is worse than the maintenance log and the notice, which are inadequate but reduce or record the risk. The principle: restore the safety measure yourself when you can do it in seconds, then report the pattern to whoever can stop it recurring.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a stock administrator at a supermarket distribution depot. While reconciling deliveries you notice that chilled goods from one supplier have been booked in as ambient for the past three weeks, which means they have not been counted against the chilled storage limit. Nobody has asked you to look at this and it is not your area. The depot manager is on site today. The next chilled delivery arrives tomorrow morning. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Correct the coding on the three weeks of records yourself so the chilled figures are accurate again, and carry on with your reconciliation now that the numbers add up.
   2. Take the figures to the depot manager today, show him the three weeks of miscoded deliveries and that another is due tomorrow, and ask who should correct the records and the booking-in process.
   3. Leave it alone, since booking in is not your area and the chilled team have presumably been managing their storage by eye without relying on the coding being right.
   4. Note the discrepancy in your reconciliation report at the end of the month, where the depot manager and the supplier team will both see it set out with the supporting figures.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Take the figures to the depot manager today, show him the three weeks of miscoded deliveries and that another is due tomorrow, and ask who should correct the records and the booking-in process.

   Least effective: C. Leave it alone, since booking in is not your area and the chilled team have presumably been managing their storage by eye without relying on the coding being right.

   A: Acts on assumptions without checking: it makes the spreadsheet right and the depot no safer. Nobody learns why the miscoding happened, so tomorrow's delivery is booked in the same way and the storage limit is still being exceeded unseen.

   C: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: you are the only person who knows the chilled limit has been unmonitored for three weeks, with another delivery due. Assuming somebody else has it covered, and saying nothing, is the one response that leaves the risk live.

   D: Delays the decision: a month-end note is the right record and the wrong clock. A chilled delivery arrives tomorrow against a storage limit the depot believes it is inside.

   The most effective response is to take the figures to the depot manager today and ask who should correct the records and the booking-in process: you hold information nobody else has, there is a delivery tomorrow, and he is on site today and can decide both. Taking it to him with the figures makes it actionable rather than a rumour. It beats correcting the three weeks of coding yourself, because that fixes the numbers and leaves the cause untouched, so tomorrow’s delivery is miscoded exactly the same way. It beats noting the discrepancy in your month-end reconciliation report, because a month-end report arrives after the delivery it should have prevented. The least effective response is leaving it alone because booking in is not your area: it is the only response that leaves a live storage risk unreported on an assumption that someone else is watching, which is precisely what three weeks of miscoding shows is not happening. That is worse than correcting the records, which at least fixes the data, and worse than the month-end note, which at least records it. The principle: when you find a problem nobody has assigned you, take it to the person who can act on it, on the clock the problem is running to.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You work in a bank’s complaints team. You have spent the morning on difficult calls about a systems failure that left customers without access to their accounts. Your team leader tells you that a complaint you handled last week has been escalated to the ombudsman and asks for your full file notes by the end of the day. Your call queue is still at record length. You believe you handled the case correctly. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Come off the queue and write the ombudsman file notes now while the case is fresh, since a regulatory deadline outranks the call queue.
   2. Get on with both as best you can and say nothing, since the whole team is under pressure from the systems failure and raising it would look like complaining.
   3. Tell your team leader the queue is at record length, ask whether the file notes can be done tomorrow or the queue covered, and keep taking calls while she decides.
   4. Work the queue all day and write up the ombudsman notes this evening after your shift, so that neither the customers nor the deadline is let down.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell your team leader the queue is at record length, ask whether the file notes can be done tomorrow or the queue covered, and keep taking calls while she decides.

   Least effective: B. Get on with both as best you can and say nothing, since the whole team is under pressure from the systems failure and raising it would look like complaining.

   A: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: it assumes the file notes outrank the queue because they sound more serious, when your team leader set both without weighing them and can rebalance in a minute.

   B: Avoids the difficult conversation: it stays silent about a workload that cannot be delivered, for fear of how it looks, so both the file notes and the calls are done badly and the one person who could rebalance it is not told.

   D: Hides the strain until failure: it meets both demands by absorbing the overload privately, so your team leader never learns the day was undeliverable and plans the next one identically.

   The most effective response is to tell your team leader the queue is at record length and ask whether the file notes can be done tomorrow or the queue covered, while you keep taking calls: she set that deadline without knowing the queue had reached record length, that is the missing fact, and she is the only person who can decide between them or find cover. Continuing to take calls while she decides means nothing stops. It beats coming off the queue to write the ombudsman file notes now, because that settles the ranking yourself on the basis that a regulator sounds more important, when the person who owns both has not been asked. It beats working the queue all day and writing the notes this evening after your shift, because doing them unpaid conceals that the day was undeliverable and guarantees the same demand next week. The least effective response is getting on with both as best you can and saying nothing: it neither raises the conflict nor resolves it, so both pieces of work suffer, and the reason is how raising it would look. That is worse than the other two, which pick badly but do complete the work. The principle: when two demands cannot both be met, give the person who set them the fact they are missing and let them choose, while you keep working.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a duty assistant at a gym. A member tells you the emergency stop cord on one of the treadmills does not seem to work. You test it and the belt does not stop. The gym is busy, six other treadmills are working, and the maintenance contractor is not on site. Your duty manager is in the building and reachable on the radio. There is no out-of-order signage kept on the gym floor. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Note the fault in the maintenance logbook so it is picked up at the contractor's next scheduled visit, and mention it to your duty manager at the end of your shift.
   2. Ring the maintenance contractor yourself to ask how soon someone can attend and what should be done with the treadmill until then.
   3. Take the treadmill out of use immediately, make it obvious it must not be used, and radio your duty manager straight away so she can arrange the repair and proper signage.
   4. Leave the treadmill in use, since the belt can still be stopped with the console button and six other treadmills are available if a member would rather not use that one.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Take the treadmill out of use immediately, make it obvious it must not be used, and radio your duty manager straight away so she can arrange the repair and proper signage.

   Least effective: D. Leave the treadmill in use, since the belt can still be stopped with the console button and six other treadmills are available if a member would rather not use that one.

   A: Delays the decision: the logbook is the right record and the wrong speed. It leaves a treadmill with no working emergency stop available to members for the rest of the day.

   B: Acts on assumptions without checking: the contractor's answer is useful and the decision about whether members may use a machine with no emergency stop belongs to your duty manager, who is in the building now.

   D: Stays silent about a known safety risk: you have confirmed the emergency stop does not work and leave the machine open to members anyway, with nobody told. That is a safety failure, not a judgement about priorities.

   The most effective response is to take the treadmill out of use immediately and radio your duty manager: an emergency stop that does not work on a moving belt is a safety fault, so the machine comes out of use first, and she is in the building and is the person who can arrange both signage and the contractor. It beats noting the fault in the maintenance logbook for the contractor’s next scheduled visit, because that records it for a future visit while members carry on using the machine today. It beats ringing the maintenance contractor yourself, because they can say when they will come but cannot decide whether the gym may keep a machine with no emergency stop in service; that is the duty manager’s call and she is thirty seconds away on the radio. The least effective response is leaving the treadmill in use because the belt can still be stopped with the console button: it is the only response that leaves a confirmed safety fault in service and tells nobody, on the reasoning that members have alternatives. That is worse than the other two, which are too slow but do report it. The principle: make a safety fault safe first, then tell the person on site who can decide what happens next.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a developer in a small software team. You and a colleague, Tomas, disagree about how to fix a bug affecting customers now. Your approach takes two days and fixes the cause; his takes two hours and treats the symptom. He has started implementing his version. The team lead is on holiday for a week and there is no other senior developer. Customers are hitting the bug daily. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Let Tomas finish his two-hour fix and start building your two-day fix alongside it, so both approaches exist and the team can choose when the lead is back.
   2. Implement your own two-day fix in parallel without telling Tomas, since it addresses the real cause and the better solution will speak for itself when it is finished.
   3. Ask Tomas to stop and wait for the team lead to return, since a two- day structural fix should not be ruled out by a decision taken while nobody senior is available.
   4. Agree with Tomas that his two-hour fix goes out now to stop customers hitting the bug, and that you write up the underlying cause for the team lead to decide on next week.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Agree with Tomas that his two-hour fix goes out now to stop customers hitting the bug, and that you write up the underlying cause for the team lead to decide on next week.

   Least effective: B. Implement your own two-day fix in parallel without telling Tomas, since it addresses the real cause and the better solution will speak for itself when it is finished.

   A: Splits effort so nothing finishes: two people building two fixes for one bug doubles the work and leaves the codebase carrying a symptom patch and a half-finished rewrite for a week.

   B: Personalises the conflict: it answers a technical disagreement by working secretly against a colleague on the same codebase, which wastes two days, risks conflicting changes and destroys the trust the team runs on.

   C: Delays the decision: it leaves customers hitting the bug every day for a week in order to protect a decision that can perfectly well be taken later, after the immediate harm has been stopped.

   The most effective response is to agree with Tomas that his two-hour fix goes out now to stop customers hitting the bug, and that you write up the underlying cause for the team lead to decide next week: customers are being harmed daily, so the fastest safe fix should go out now, and the deeper question does not have to be lost, it has to be documented and decided by the person who owns that call. Separating the urgent from the important resolves both. It beats asking him to stop and wait for the team lead to return, because holding everything for a week leaves customers hitting the bug every day to protect a decision that keeps perfectly well. It beats letting him finish while you build your two-day fix alongside it, because that doubles the effort and leaves the code carrying two competing changes with nobody senior to arbitrate. The least effective response is implementing your own fix in parallel without telling him: it works secretly against a colleague on shared code, which risks conflicting changes, wastes two days and damages the trust a small team depends on. That is worse than the other two, which handle the disagreement badly but openly. The principle: stop the harm with the quickest sound fix, and route the deeper disagreement to whoever owns it, in writing.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a production coordinator at an events company. It is 2pm on the day of a conference. Three things need you: the client’s keynote speaker has arrived and cannot find the green room, the audio-visual crew report a microphone fault in the main hall where the keynote begins at 3pm, and your manager wants tomorrow’s crew rota confirmed by 4pm. You have one runner available to help. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Deal with the speaker and the rota yourself and leave the microphone to the audio-visual crew, since they are the specialists and it is their equipment to fix.
   2. Take the speaker to the green room yourself since the client will judge the company on how she is looked after, then deal with the microphone and the rota afterwards.
   3. Send the runner to collect the speaker, go to the main hall yourself to get the microphone fault resolved before 3pm, and confirm the rota after the keynote starts.
   4. Confirm the rota first since your manager has set a 4pm deadline, then help with the microphone and ask the runner to find the speaker.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Send the runner to collect the speaker, go to the main hall yourself to get the microphone fault resolved before 3pm, and confirm the rota after the keynote starts.

   Least effective: A. Deal with the speaker and the rota yourself and leave the microphone to the audio-visual crew, since they are the specialists and it is their equipment to fix.

   A: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: the crew have reported the fault rather than fixed it, which is the signal that they need a decision or a replacement. Treating a reported problem as somebody else's job means the keynote starts without a working microphone.

   B: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: escorting a guest is the one task on the list that anyone can do, and doing it personally spends the coordinator on the job the runner exists for while a keynote microphone stays broken.

   D: Delays the decision: the rota has two hours and no audience, while the microphone has one hour and a keynote behind it. Doing the administrative task first spends the only hour that matters.

   The most effective response is to send the runner to collect the speaker, go to the main hall yourself to get the microphone fault resolved before 3pm, and confirm the rota after the keynote starts: the microphone is the only item with a hard deadline and a public failure attached, the speaker needs collecting rather than coordinating, and the rota has until 4pm. That puts each person on the job matching what they can do. It beats taking the speaker to the green room yourself, because escorting a guest is exactly what the runner is there for, and doing it personally leaves the microphone unattended. It beats confirming the rota first to meet your manager’s 4pm deadline, because the rota has two hours and no audience while the keynote has one. The least effective response is leaving the microphone to the audio-visual crew as the specialists: they have reported a fault rather than resolved it, so a decision or a replacement is needed, and treating it as theirs alone risks a keynote starting without sound in front of the client. That is worse than the other two, which misallocate the time but keep the fault in view. The principle: delegate what anyone can do, take personally the thing with the closing window and the visible consequence.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You work at the counter of a bank branch. A customer in her eighties comes in distressed because a standing order to her energy supplier has not gone out and she has had a warning letter. You can see on screen that the standing order was cancelled last month, but not by whom. She insists she never cancelled it. The branch is quiet and your supervisor is at the next desk. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Sit her down, tell her you will find out what happened to the standing order, check the account history with your supervisor, and explain what you find before she leaves the branch.
   2. Explain that the system shows the standing order was cancelled last month, and offer to set up a new one now so that next month's payment reaches the energy supplier on time.
   3. Tell her that standing orders are only ever cancelled by the account holder, so the instruction must have come from her, and advise her to check her own records at home.
   4. Give her the telephone banking number and suggest she rings the complaints team, who can look into the cancellation properly and write to her with an explanation.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Sit her down, tell her you will find out what happened to the standing order, check the account history with your supervisor, and explain what you find before she leaves the branch.

   Least effective: C. Tell her that standing orders are only ever cancelled by the account holder, so the instruction must have come from her, and advise her to check her own records at home.

   B: Ignores the customer's actual need: a new standing order fixes next month and leaves her holding a warning letter about this month, with no answer to the question she came in with.

   C: Acts on assumptions without checking: it tells a distressed customer she must be mistaken without opening the account history, and the screen does not in fact show who cancelled it. Blaming the customer on an unchecked assumption is a different order of wrong from the other options.

   D: Passes responsibility to others: she is standing in a quiet branch in front of someone who can see the account, and is sent to a phone queue to repeat a story she has just told.

   The most effective response is to sit her down and check the account history with your supervisor before she leaves the branch: she has a concrete problem, a warning letter, and an unanswered question, and everything needed to answer it is on the screen in front of you with a supervisor beside you. Settling it while she is here is both possible and what she came for. It beats offering to set up a new standing order now, because that solves next month while leaving this month’s letter and the cancellation unexplained. It beats giving her the telephone banking number for the complaints team, because sending her to a phone queue to retell the story makes her do the work when the branch could resolve it now. The least effective response is telling her that standing orders are only ever cancelled by the account holder: it asserts something the system does not actually show, tells an elderly customer she is mistaken on that basis, and sends her away with nothing. That is worse than the other two, which help partially, because it adds a false claim to an unmet need. The principle: when a customer’s problem can be investigated where they are standing, investigate it rather than redirecting or assuming.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a deputy manager at a residential care home. Two staff have called in sick for the night shift, leaving the home one carer short of its minimum staffing level. You have already worked a full day. The manager is uncontactable and the on-call director’s number is on the wall. The agency the home uses can usually supply at short notice. It is 7pm and the shift starts at 8pm. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ring the agency now for cover, and ring the on-call director to report that the home is below minimum staffing until it is confirmed.
   2. Run the shift one carer short, since the staff on duty are experienced and reporting it would only create alarm about a single night that will probably pass without incident.
   3. Ring the agency for cover and deal with it yourself, only escalating to the on-call director if the agency cannot supply anyone in time.
   4. Stay on for the night shift yourself to make up the numbers, and report the two absences to the manager in the morning.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Ring the agency now for cover, and ring the on-call director to report that the home is below minimum staffing until it is confirmed.

   Least effective: B. Run the shift one carer short, since the staff on duty are experienced and reporting it would only create alarm about a single night that will probably pass without incident.

   B: Breaches a staffing safeguard: minimum staffing levels in a care home exist for residents' safety and are not yours to waive, and choosing to run below them without telling anyone is a concealed risk to people who depend on that care.

   C: Delays the decision: the agency may well come through and the home is below its minimum staffing level in the meantime, which the on- call director exists to know about at the time, not afterwards.

   D: Hides the strain until failure: covering a night shift after a full day puts residents in the care of an exhausted deputy, and it conceals from the organisation that the home could not staff itself.

   The most effective response is to ring the agency now for cover and ring the on-call director to report that the home is below minimum staffing: the threshold is set for residents’ safety, so both things need to happen at once, because only the organisation can decide what happens if the agency cannot supply. It beats ringing the agency and escalating only if they cannot supply anyone in time, because reporting only on failure leaves the home below minimum staffing with nobody accountable aware, and the director’s role exists precisely for that hour. It beats staying on for the night shift yourself to make up the numbers, because working through after a full day puts residents in the care of an exhausted person and hides that the rota failed. The least effective response is running the shift one carer short and telling nobody: it operates a care home below its safe staffing level on the reasoning that the night will probably pass without incident. That is worse than the other two, which respond inadequately but keep the home staffed and the problem visible. The principle: when a safety threshold is breached, start the fix and tell the person accountable at the same time, rather than waiting to see whether you get away with it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a housekeeping supervisor at a hotel. Fourteen rooms must be ready for a 3pm check-in and it is 1pm. One of your housekeepers, Bronwen, is new and is working through her rooms far more slowly than the others, who have almost finished theirs. Bronwen has not said anything. You have four rooms of your own to complete. The head housekeeper is off site. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Reallocate two of Bronwen's rooms to the housekeepers who have nearly finished, without saying anything to her, so that the deadline is met and she is not embarrassed.
    2. Finish your own four rooms first and then help Bronwen with hers, since the other housekeepers are close to done and the total will come out right by 3pm.
    3. Tell Bronwen where she is against the 3pm deadline, show her the quicker way through a room, and move two of her rooms to the staff who are nearly finished.
    4. Say nothing and let the rooms run late, since Bronwen is new and it would be unfair to push her, and reception can explain the delay to guests when they arrive.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: C. Tell Bronwen where she is against the 3pm deadline, show her the quicker way through a room, and move two of her rooms to the staff who are nearly finished.

    Least effective: D. Say nothing and let the rooms run late, since Bronwen is new and it would be unfair to push her, and reception can explain the delay to guests when they arrive.

    A: Prioritises harmony over honesty: it gets the rooms done and leaves Bronwen no clearer about the pace she is expected to work at, so the same shortfall reappears tomorrow.

    B: Acts on assumptions without checking: it assumes the arithmetic works without measuring it, and if Bronwen is further behind than she appears there is no time left to reallocate anything.

    D: Hides the problem: it decides to miss a check-in deadline and leaves reception to break the news to arriving guests, when two hours and a reallocation would have prevented it. Choosing the failure silently is the worst of the four.

    The most effective response is to tell Bronwen where she is against the 3pm deadline, show her the quicker way through a room, and move two of her rooms to the staff who are nearly finished: there are two hours, the work can be redistributed, and she is new and needs to know both where she stands and how to work faster. Doing all three at once meets the deadline and improves tomorrow. It beats reallocating two of her rooms without saying anything to her, because that gets today’s check-in done and teaches her nothing, so the same gap opens again. It beats finishing your own four rooms and then helping her, because that assumes the totals will work out rather than checking, and by the time they do not it is too late to move anything. The least effective response is saying nothing and letting the rooms run late: it accepts a missed check-in for fourteen rooms and leaves reception to handle arriving guests. That is worse than the other two, which at least try to hit 3pm. The principle: measure where you are against the deadline, tell the person who is behind, and redistribute the work while there is still time.