Physical waiting lines send a clear and strong signal about the prevalence of mass cooperation. And queue norms and practices dovetail neatly with both the collaborative and punishing sides of our inclination toward reciprocity. “There is little evidence that we are all selfish homineseconomici rather, we tend to be strong reciprocators, inclined to cooperate when we see others doing so, provided that we do not see anyone free riding at the expense of our generosity. There are social rules about queuing though these differ from culture to culture, as do how people react to those who break the rules. For instance, Fagundes (2016) suggested queues offer many rich insights into the social norms and human behaviour. There is a surprising large academic literature on the psychology of queuing. This explains why people would wait longer for medical attention for A & E than they would buying a pint of milk at their nearest corner shop. For example, waiting in line at a bar normally seems worse than waiting for the bartender to make you your drinks.Ĩ) People wait longer for more valuable services. Waits seem longer if you are waiting for your service to begin than if you’re already waiting as you’re being served. This is a difficult one, but explains the idea of a waiting room or one of those holding pens at airports.ħ) Pre-process waits seem longer than in-process waits. The spirit of “all in it together”, “equal suffering” helps.Ħ) Solo Waits seem longer than Group or Social Waits. The Fast Trackers who buy their way out the cabin crew who get some privileged exit the locals who have twice as many people manning the desks as the aliens. Nothing is worse than seeing someone semi-legitimately avoid the queue. Your train/flight is late (and we profoundly apologise) due to the late arrival of the other train/plane.ĥ) Unfair Waits are much more aggravating than Equitable Waits. Some organisations have realised the importance of giving an explanation. Too-frequent apologies do not as people become aware this is just a standard tape going round-and-round.Ĥ) Unanticipated and Unexplained Waits are worse. “Will it ever come will I make my next meeting will I make the connection?” Thus, explanation and reassurance works and music might help. Information takes away the ambiguity and gives a person the confidence that the system is still running.ģ) Anxiety makes the wait seem longer. The “guestimations” need not be accurate precision does not matter. The London underground and buses have realised this. Tell them (roughly) how long they have to wait and people are more accepting of the delay. The worst alternative is letting them grow surly and listless they then mumble to each other about starting a revolt.Ģ) Uncertainty makes waiting seem longer. Give them television to watch, music to listen to. Make them walk round and round on maze-like paths. In a well quoted early paper Maister (1985) makes eight observations:ġ) Occupied Time feels shorter: Give people something to do or distract their attention. However, there are numerous articles and observations on how people behave in queues. Indeed the use of different forms of technology are seen as major ways to reduce the necessity of queuing. The use of technology to reduce queuing such as “self-scanning” in supermarkets and e-passports in airports have been very successful attempts to reduce queues as well as staff costs. There is also surprising lack of good experimental studies on queuing. It is difficult to get good evidence about queuing Time of day and seasonal effects the most cost-effective way to reduce queuing time cultural differences in reactions to queuing. Expectations have changed with respect to service and “fast-foods”: people take their custom elsewhere, where they get what they want namely a form of instant gratification. It is a serious problem for management, who know the cost of hiring extra hands. Delay is often the most important factor influencing restaurant evaluation. Products are consumed, but services are experienced in real time. It leads to “queue rage” which is physical and verbal abuse as a function of even minor delays. For many organisations customer disgruntlement at waiting times is a serious issue that demands solutions.
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