INCIDENT REPORT
Report
104302 Hillview Avenue, Suite 15
Los Angeles, CA 91311
The purpose of this report is to inform about the client support managers’ failure to use the brand new call recording software on March 19, 2016 during the working hours.
The incident started in the beginning of the shift in the morning because the client support agents failed to switch on the option of call recording in the newly installed programmed. The client support agents that came to the next shift in the afternoon failed to switch on the option as well. Although the incident started in the morning, the technical department responsible for the supervision of the technical part of the operations, noticed the problem only at 2:30 PM, but did not report about to me at once, instead trying to find out if the problem was with the software and hardware. The incident occurred because no agent received any training or guidance by the technical department, although each of them was informed about the necessity to record each call. Apparently, client support agents mistakenly believed that the recording process was automatic and needed no manual control. By the end of the working day, I received a call from a technician, who explained the problem to me and suggested that I checked if the software worked and the option was switched on. Consequently, I found out that it was off on every computer and delivered this information to the technician and to the head of the department.
Although I have switched on the option of call recording on all computers and informed the all agents that it was forbidden to switch off call recording, I believe that this measure has solved the problem only partially. Since it occurred in the first place because of the lack of adequate training, I suggested the Human Resource Specialist responsible for providing trainings to all staff when necessary that our department received such training as soon as possible in order to prevent similar incidents in future. We scheduled the meeting for the upcoming Monday at 2 PM, where we will be discussing possible options and the costs of this training course to the company. I have also asked each client support agent that worked that day to send me a report via e-mail about any important issue with the clients that they could remember to have taken place on March 19.
In the future, we will make sure that no agent starts working without checking if the call recording option is on and sending me a confirmation that this action was performed via Skype. The technical department will also make sure that they will call the supervisors without delay if they notice any problems with the software. We will also ensure that all agents receive adequate training within the next two weeks in order to prevent similar situations. We will also devise an alternative plan on how to record calls if the software is broken at any time of the working day, possibly by installing additional programs that will be used only in case of emergency. The technical department will also install a special program on supervisors’ computers that will help us see if the option of call recording is working on every computer.
Thank you for your attention. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the matter with me and/or HR specialist or Technical Specialist, please, call me at 6-1423.
Description of the Writing Process
The chapter contains a detailed review of each of the three steps that should be followed to write a quality report. Since the chosen workplace situation had a problematic nature, the type of report that would best address the event was the incident report, since incident reports are usually aimed at describing accidents, inter alia, as well as describe specific actions taken to improve the situation, solve any existing problems, as well as prevent the event in future (Johnson-Sheehan, 2014). Because the workplace situation was extraordinary and caused negative consequences, it can be considered an accident with entailing problems and measures that solved them. The provided incident report contains all details of the event and subsequent actions, thus, fully fulfilling its purpose.
The first step that should be taken when writing an incident report is to gather necessary information that will become the content of the report (Johnson-Sheehan, 2014). To make this step easier, Johnson-Sheehan (2014) advises to keep “an activity journal or work log” in order to document all details that may be crucial in case of incident that will require reporting (p. 254). The details are so important because incident reports help supervisors conduct further investigations, clearly envision the circumstances, during which an incident took place, as well as make decisions about whether any additional actions are needed (“Incident reports,” 2012). Since no such notes were taken preliminary, as many details as possible were noted down by the author from memory, while the approximate time of the incident and countermeasures were tracked using the author’s mobile phone that recorded information about all phone calls. The preliminary notes were also as objective and detailed as possible and were written down in a form of an alphanumeric outline, since objectivity, unbiased approach and absence of opinions, assumptions and hearsays is crucial to this kind of report (Complete guide, 2008). The next part of the first step of the process requires an author of the report to answer the Five-W and How Questions that help organize the report and avoid any possible content errors, including inappropriate tone or excessive and needless information (Johnson-Sheehan, 2014). Generally, any writing at work can be considered successful if it answers each of these basic questions, because it will surely capture the audience’s attention (Kolin, 2013). The first question requires the author to define the target audience, which, in this case, included the author’s supervisor, who is also the head of the department, technical staff and HR specialist of the company. The next question asks the author to define what information will be necessary to include in the report. This question helps the author focus solely on information that corresponds to the purposes of the report, which is to inform the target audience about how and why the incident has happened, what corrective and preventive actions were taken. For the purpose of this report, all details from the notes, including the time of the incident and the time it was solved, as well as any communication made with other co-workers in order to solve the problem, were included. The remaining three questions look into the future of the report, asking where, when and how it will be used. These questions help the author remember to include all information necessary for future actions regarding the current or similar incidents, as well as to use appropriate tone and language. To illustrate how these questions are relevant, Johnson-Sheehan (2014) reminds that while many reports may remain unused for a long time, some may be reviews by auditors and accountants, and if any information is outstanding or reveals something that it should not, the author and supervisors may get into trouble.
The draft of the report started with the indication of the target audience and the subject of the report, with the latter fully reflecting the purpose of the report without being too long. This way, the audience can understand what they are about to read and can decide whether they need to read the report and what additional information they may require. The introduction contained the purpose, the subject and the date of the incident. These requisites introduce the incident to the reader, who may not have heard about it yet, and they help get straight to the point without wasting the reader’s time. The body of the report consists of three parts. The first part summarizes the incident in details and provides all information that is relevant for future analysis. The second part describes the actions taken by the author and technical staff in order to regain control over the situation, solve the problem and restore all possible information that was lost during the day. Finally, the third part discusses the options that could be chosen to prevent similar incidents in future. In particular, it includes solutions that could be taken by all supervisors, by the technical department, as well as by the HR specialist and the head of the department, since the author believes that collective actions are crucial for the prevention of similar incidents. These three parts were delineated by Johnson-Sheehan (2014) as the most common and basic components of an incident report because together they fulfil its goal, which is to tell the readers about the accident, provides factual information about the reasons of its occurrence, present each step taken to correct the situation and suggest measures that will help avoid it in future. The current report does not include future expenses that should be made by the company to prevent the incident in future because they were still to be assessed by the HR specialist, with whom the author has scheduled a meeting. This part would be necessary if the author wanted to inform the supervisor about the financial consequences of the incident, who would then transfer the information to financial specialists. The report ends a conclusion that restates the purpose and main aim of the report, as well as presents the recommendations on how to prevent the incident in future. The conclusion consists of only two sentences, as its purpose it simply to remind the reader of why the report was written and to briefly state that certain measures will be taken to prevent the incident in future. Finally, the last paragraph invites the target audience to participate in discussion, which is necessary for avoidance of incidents in future.
Finally, the author considered whether any specific design should be used for this report and arrived at a conclusion that it should be kept as simple as possible to fulfil its informative purpose. Since no measurements were made for this report, the author did not include any graphics. The author has also revised the report, checking if most sentences were written in active voice and each paragraph started with a topic sentence that made an introduction of the further content. The author kept official tone, described the incident in concrete terms and refrained from judgmental terminology and negative images in order to make the report professional and unbiased (“Guidelines,” n.d.). If the author had opted for a more laid-back tone, he would have made an impression that he did not take the incident seriously. At the same time, the report was written using specific terms, instead of vague phrases, and was as concise as it was possible without losing important information, as these characteristics are crucial to a good report (“A guide,” 2011).
The three-step process described in the chapter was very useful in writing this activity report. It described the process of writing in detail, making it simpler to follow, and included the important aspects that could be otherwise overlooked, such as the style and tone of the report. In particular, Johnson-Sheehan (2014) provided a sample plan for the incident report that was used by the author with minor alterations. The author omitted the part that describes costs caused by the incident, since such change is allowed when it does not conflict with the aim of the report. The author wrote the draft of the report based on the notes about the incident, as advised by Johnson-Sheehan, since such notes help remember all important details. The author answered all five most important questions before writing the draft, since such questions help organize thoughts and focus exclusively on important information. The draft consisted on brief introduction, body and brief conclusion, which are basic elements not only of reports, but of many other forms of documentation. The author finally revised the report paying special attention to the tone, language and sentence structure because polished report with appropriate tone is crucial to show that the author takes the incident seriously and is ready to work further on reduction of similar incidents in future.
References
A guide to completing incident reports. (2011). Retrieved March 30, 2016, from https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/Api/downloadmedia/{A466A035-A150-41EE-95A8-4DAE6393DF8B}
Complete guide to documentation (2nd ed.). (2008). Ambler, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Guidelines for writing and distributing incident reports. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2016, from http://www.oneskyservices.org/files/downloads/Incident_Rept_Guidelines.pdf
Incident reports. (2012, September 1). Retrieved March 30, 2016, from http://chfs.ky.gov/nr/rdonlyres/1ca3cb03-8fa8-4171-8322-bbcc8b5ea91b/0/arvoliincidentreports.doc.
Johnson-Sheehan, R. (2014). Technical communication strategies for today (2nd ed.). Pearson.
Kolin, P. C. (2013). Successful writing at work (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
