For the CEO · read before Thursday
Your COO is asking the ELT to sign one question: do we combine East and West support into one organization? West callers wait almost three times longer than East, and hiring hasn't fixed it.
What the room recommends
Combine into one support organization, keep both offices open through the switch, and don't cut over until a failover test has passed.
How the six seats voted
2 for · 1 no block · 1 conditional · 2 against
Saved a year
$640k
West lease plus one management layer
Cost to do it
$395k
One time
Pays back
~7 mo
If nothing below goes wrong
Jobs that change
14
All on the West side
Average hold time today
West 11:40 · East 4:10
Target is under 5:00 on both
One decision, two no votes, three moves. Everything below backs it up.
Listen on the way in
1:39 · read by an AI voice · the script is below
The frame
Here's your two minutes before Thursday. One decision, two no votes, three moves.
The decision
Do we combine East and West support into one team? West callers wait almost 12 minutes. East waits 4. Hiring hasn't fixed it.
The room says yes. Combine the teams, keep both offices open during the switch, and don't cut over until a failover test passes. It saves $640,000 a year, costs $395,000 once, and pays back in about 7 months.
The votes
Six seats. Finance and the West lead say yes. Legal won't block it. The East lead is in once their people are trained. Operations and HR said no.
Here's what to remember. Both no votes are about how. Nobody's against doing it.
Move one
Give HR what they asked for. The 14 people whose roles are changing hear it first, before any announcement. It costs two weeks and turns a no into a yes.
Move two
Ask Operations for one thing, the date of the failover test. Then tie the switch to that test passing. No date, no signature.
Move three
Get ahead of the surprise. Your CMO thinks customer contacts are 8 percent higher than the file shows. That's about 3 more people on the team. The answer stays the same, so say it before anyone else frames it.
In your pocket
If the lease runs late and the CMO is right, payback stretches from 7 months to about 21. Still worth it. Just slower.
Walk in
One decision, two no votes, three moves. Make the moves, and let your COO sign.
3 rounds
Facts first, then a vote with conditions, then the final vote.
6 seats
Each one argued from its own data through its own agent.
14 checks
Facilitators checked every round. None of them vote.
1 claim cut
No seat had a source for it, so it came off the page.
Losing side kept
It stays on the page in its own words.
The losing side, in its own words
"We're signing a single point of failure for a customer who already waits too long. Show us failover working before the cutover date."
Operations seat · lost the vote, and its condition became the gate
What each seat argued in the room, what would move them, and the number they need to bring. The amber card is the pushback that came in after the file went out.
Brought the question · signs
Asked
"I want this signed Thursday or sent back with a page number."
Brings
The recommended answer and the plan behind it.In the fileFinance seat
Said in the room
"It pays back in about seven months if we're out of the West lease in year one."
Needs
Legal's read on breaking the West lease this year.Coming from LegalOperations seat
Said in the room
"One queue fails as one queue, and we've never tested a failover."
Needs to bring
A date for the failover test. Nobody has booked one.MissingHR seat
Said in the room
"Fourteen people hear it from us before any announcement, or I'm a no."
Brings
The 14 roles and who talks to each person first.In the fileJoins for this item
Said in the room
"We can't hire our way out of an eleven minute hold."
Brings
Hold times by hour and the queue for the last 90 days.In the fileJoins for this item
Said in the room
"We'll take West's peaks once my people are cross-trained."
Needs to bring
The cross-training schedule. It's still a draft.ComingLegal seat
Said in the room
"Two notice obligations. Neither one stops the call."
Needs to bring
The landlord's position on the lease break. They haven't called yet.ComingNot a seat in the room
Replied to their page
"I'm a no for now. Section 5, Exhibit A. Our customer contact numbers are 8 percent higher than what's in the file."
Needs to bring
The volume check, even if it's rough.Due tomorrowIf one of these is missing Thursday, the meeting turns into a second meeting. Two aren't ready yet.
| The number | Who brings it | Who'll ask for it | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Failover test date, and what passing means | VP Operations | You, CFO, West lead | Missing |
| Contact volume, the file's number against marketing's | CMO | CFO, East lead | Due tomorrow |
| Can we break the West lease in year one, and what it costs | General Counsel | CFO | Coming |
| Cross-training hours per East agent | East lead | VP Operations, CHRO | Draft |
| Hold times by hour, last 90 days | West lead | Everyone | In the file |
| The 14 roles and the conversation order | CHRO | General Counsel | In the file |
| Savings, one-time cost and payback | CFO | You | In the file |
The CFO's case is right on its own terms. It just assumes nothing slips.
Counted from the day of the switch.
Nobody has put these two together. Each problem alone still pays back inside about a year and a half. Both at once push it to almost two years. That's the question to ask the CFO.
Three fault lines. You can settle all three in the room if you know them going in.
West holds keep climbing, so the West lead will push for a date. Settle it by tying the cutover to the test result and leaving the calendar out of it. Ask Operations for the test date and let the cutover follow.
HR's no is about order. Move the 14 conversations ahead of any announcement. It adds about two weeks and turns an against into a yes.
If marketing is right, you need about 3 more agents. That changes the staffing plan. It doesn't change whether to combine. Say that out loud so the 8 percent doesn't sink the whole call.
To VP Operations
"What date can you show me failover working?"
If there's no date, the plan has no gate. Don't sign without one.
To the CFO
"What does payback look like if the lease slips and the CMO's number is right?"
Know the answer before you ask: about 21 months. Still worth doing, just slower.
To the CMO
"Does your 8 percent change whether we do this, or only how many people we need?"
The honest answer is the second one. Let them say it.
Don't say "customers won't notice." The room cut it. If someone says it, ask for the source.
COO states the question and the recommended answer. One sentence each.
HR's order first. Agree the 14 conversations happen before the announcement. Quick win, sets the tone.
Operations' gate. Get a failover test date on the record and tie the cutover to it.
The CMO's 8 percent. Agree it's a staffing question and give it an owner and a date.
COO signs or sends it back. A send-back has to point at a page.
Four short notes that fill the gaps before anyone sits down. Copy and send.
To VP Operations
Bring a date for the failover test on Thursday. It's the gate for the whole plan.
To General Counsel
Can you get the landlord's position on breaking the West lease before Thursday?
To the CMO
Send me your 8 percent volume check before Thursday, even if it's rough.
To the East support lead
Bring the cross-training schedule Thursday. A draft is fine.
Every job has an owner and a date before anyone leaves the room.
Day 1 to 14
Talk to all 14 people whose jobs change
CHRO
Day 30
Send both notices and start the lease exit
General Counsel · CFO
Day 30
Cross-training schedule locked
East lead
By day 75
Failover test passes
VP Operations
Day 90
Cutover, only if the test passed
COO