Issues

An issue is one thing that went wrong, whatever caused it: a late delivery, a torn tent, a missing chair, an unhappy client, a uniform left at home. Each issue is one of three kinds:

• Incident: it cost us nothing, but it is still worth recording (a truck not swept out when asked).
• Case: it cost us something (an item forgotten, so somebody drives back out).
• Violation: it goes against the handbook (no uniform).

Logging it means it can be counted, not just remembered.

Steps

1. Open Sales, Issues and press New issue, or press the + at the top of any screen and pick Issue.
2. Write What happened, in a line, and set the Severity.
3. Pick the Kind. Left blank, it is a Case when it cost us something and an Incident when it did not. Violation is always picked by a person.
4. Set When it happened. Add When we found out only if it was later.
5. Pick Where in the job and the Cause, and tick Could we have stopped it if it was preventable.
6. Link the Order, the Client and the Item involved.
7. Set Assigned to: start typing and pick the person who will handle it, a team (listed under the people), or Unknown when nobody has it yet. It starts as you.
8. Press Create issue.
9. Write up What happened, Why it happened, What was done about it and What stops it next time as you work it, and move its status along: Open, Looking into it, Action taken, Closed.

Good to know

• Assigned to is who handles the issue, not who caused it. It is one person, one team, or Unknown, never two at once: picking a team takes the person off, and picking a person takes the team off.
• Who the issue is against is the Who tab: a person added there as Responsible has the issue counted on their record. When nobody knows who, pick a team as Responsible: the issue counts on the team and on everybody on it. Involved, Witness and Reported it are not counted against anybody.
• On the employee record. Every issue against a person is on the Issues tab of their record, with its kind, date, status, cost and whether it came through a team, and a count of each kind at the top. The person sees their own; so do whoever they report to (up the chain), HR and admins. Nobody else does.
• The person an issue is assigned to gets a notification (unless they assigned it to themselves), and gets one again if it comes back to them later. For a team, the team's leader is told. Each person picks how it reaches them under Settings, Me, Preferences, on the line An issue is assigned to me.
• The person an issue is assigned to can open it and work it even if their role cannot open Issues. For a team, everybody on it can. None of them see who was involved, and only someone whose role may edit issues can hand it on, except that a team's leader may hand an issue assigned to the team to one person on it.
• A team needs a leader before an issue can be assigned to it. Teams are kept under Settings, HR, Roles, on the Teams tab.
• The figures across the top of the Issues list (incidents in the last 90 days, open now, cost, preventable to start) are yours to change. See The figures on your lists. The ready-made reports break issues down by where, why and when.
• What it cost us and What we gave back put a number on it: a second trip, a sub-rental, a refund.
• People go on the Who tab, not in the write-up. Only those who can open Issues see that tab.
• Nothing on an issue reaches the client by itself. The client has been told records that somebody spoke to them.
• An order lists its issues under More once it has one, and Log an issue is in the order's More menu. A contact has an Issues tab.
• Set an issue to Not an issue when it turned out to be nothing. It is then left out of every report.
• The numbers keep their CS start (CS-1004), and the address stays /cases, so old links still open.

If something goes wrong

• The issue will not close. What was done about it must be filled in before an issue can be closed.
• "Only someone who may edit issues can assign this issue to somebody else." The issue is assigned to you or your team, but your role cannot edit issues. Ask whoever keeps the issue log to hand it on.
• "As the team's leader you can hand this issue to one person on the team." You lead the team it is assigned to, so you may give it to one of its people, not to anybody or any team else.
• "... has no leader." The team has nobody leading it. Give it a leader under Settings, HR, Roles, Teams, or assign the issue to a person.
• "An issue is assigned to one person or one team, not both." Pick one, or Unknown.
• Issues is not on the menu. It is switched off for your company or hidden by Simple mode. Ask your admin.