Responses and follow-up

Everything that happens on a request is recorded as an event in order: a response to the campus, an internal note, a pause, a resume, an escalation or the resolution. Each event has its time and whether the campus can see it, and a pause records how many minutes the clock stopped.

The first response time is set once, by the first response the campus actually sees. An internal note never counts as a response. When the observer is waiting on the school, such as for a timetable or a classroom, they pause the request and resume it when the school replies. Paused time is excluded from response measures, so observers are not penalised for delays outside their control.

Observers respond and follow up; coordinators watch response times.

• First response once. The first campus-visible response sets the time; later ones do not change it.
• Notes stay internal. Internal notes never count as responses.
• Pauses are recorded. Waiting time is captured as pause minutes.

Agree your response time expectations by priority, what counts as a response, and when an observer may pause a request. Agree who sees internal notes and how escalations are handled. Prepare examples of a quick response, an internal note before any response, a request paused for a week and an escalation to the coordinator.

The science coach picks up the request and adds an internal note about the teacher’s timetable. The response clock keeps running, because a note is not a response. The next morning the coach emails the principal through the request, which sets the first response time. The school asks to wait until after exams, so the coach pauses the request; when exams end, it is resumed, and the two weeks of waiting are excluded from the response report.

• Request events — Responses, notes, pauses, resumes and resolutions in order.
• Unresolved requests — Requests still in progress.

• Respond and follow up: How responses and pauses are recorded.

See reports on response times.