The task

It is 2 pm. You have just been into town for lunch with some relations. On your
return, the following are waiting to be dealt with. You have a team of two assistants.
One is on holiday and the other post is currently vacant:

A. Message from your CEO: ‘Please phone as soon as possible.’

B. Written message: ‘Mr Y (important commercial client) has been trying to get in
touch – please phone back.’
C. Diary appointment: Regular section meeting at 2.30 pm.
D. Diary appointments: Interview of applicants X and Y for new post at 3.30 pm and
4.15 pm respectively.
E. Afternoon e-mails.
F. Message from HR: ‘Can we have a pre-meeting before this afternoon’s
interviews? Please phone to arrange a time. Message timed 1 pm.’ (You realize you
haven’t prepared for the interviews.)
G. Message from Finance: ‘Please complete the questionnaire we sent you last
week. We must have the information by 4 pm otherwise your extra requests will be
denied.’
H. The phone rings.
Put the above into priority order, stating the action you would take and your
reasons.

Timing
Task time: 15 minutes.

In tray 1
Suggested competencies
Planning and Organizing, Written Communication, Creative Thinking.

Assessment/debrief
Least important: C and E.
Removing uncertainty (allows the task to be rated relatively high): A, B,
H.
Relatively important: D, F (D and F are linked), G.

In tray 2

The task

You are the HR manager in a large company. It is 9 o’clock on a Thursday morning

and you have just arrived at work. This is later than usual as you were caught in a
traffic accident. You have an HR Officer who joined you two months ago and an
admin assistant in your team. The following are waiting to be dealt with:

A. Meeting: This begins at 10 am. You are talking about a report you have written
and circulated. This is the first item on the agenda (after Apologies and Minutes of
the Previous Meeting). The meeting is scheduled to end at 1 pm but invariably
overruns.

B. Message from your partner: ‘Please phone me as soon as you get in – urgent.’

C. Written message: ‘Can you see the General Manager.’

D. Written message: ‘Please telephone David Jones at the News about an article he
is writing for tomorrow’s edition on the recent controversial sackings. Mobile
number 1234567. (Message timed at 7.20).’

E. New e-mails.

F. An item on next year’s revised budget is on this morning’s meeting agenda. You
said you would provide revised figures from your department. You have forgotten all
about it! The figures will take you about 30 minutes to produce. No one else can
compile them. The budget is item three on the agenda.

G. Appraisal interview booked with a member of the section for 2 pm. You have not
had an opportunity to prepare for this due to other pressures. You’ve had to
postpone this once already, at your request.

H. The phone rings.

Put the above into priority order, stating the action you would take and your
reasons.

Timing

Task time: 15 minutes.

In tray 2

Suggested competencies

Planning and Organizing, Written Communication, Creative Thinking.

Assessment/debrief

Least important: E.

Less urgent: D and G (if postponed).

Remove uncertainty: B, C, H.

More important: A and F.