Journal
How counter hours shape lodgement peaks
A licence office that opens to the public between ten and one does not receive fewer applications than one that opens at nine. It receives them standing up, in a foyer, holding children and paper. When the shutter rises, the week arrives at once. Completeness is checked in a hurry. The numbering stamp overheats in the hand. By two o’clock the trays look like a problem of staff numbers. They are also a problem of the clock on the door.
We do not campaign for longer hours. That is a roster and a budget, and neither belongs to us. We do put the opening time on the journey map, with a sketch of the foyer at ten past ten. Directors who have never stood in that foyer sometimes change the hours once they have seen the drawing. Sometimes they add a second stamp. Both responses are more precise than hiring in the abstract.
If the peak is the story, start with an Intake Desk Review rather than a full audit. The rest of the journey may be calm. The shutter is not.