The delay starts before finance sees the order.
Records locate the wait between delivery confirmation and invoice readiness. Interviews explain the missing handoff.
Order history 3 perspectives Handoff checklist
Human perspective. Operational clarity.
You hear one version
of how the work gets done.
The records tell another.
Surface analyses your operational data while AI interviews run across your team. See where people’s accounts agree with the records, where they differ, and what to investigate next.
The connection
The story lives
between the two.
The records show where work waits. Your people can explain what happens there. Put both in view, and a useful question starts to emerge.
- Reported
- What people say. Conversations, context and the unwritten rules.
- Observed
- What the systems recorded. Processes, records and patterns in the work.
Listening
Listen
People see what
numbers miss.
The workarounds. The unwritten rules. The reason a handoff keeps coming back. Surface’s AI interviews ask their own follow-up questions, across teams in parallel.
“We spend too much time reconciling the same information across different systems. It slows everything down.”
01 / 03
In practice
One sentence in an interview.
One decision at the end.
Choose a room and follow one investigation from what someone said to what changed. The accounts and records are invented. The method is how Surface works.
-
01 What people said
“We find out our shifts on WhatsApp the night before. You can’t plan anything.”
-
02 What the systems recorded
Rota publishing times, last six months
Sites Median notice Late changes Site 4 2 days 3 times the rest Site 7 2 days 3 times the rest The other seven 12 to 16 days Baseline 2 days of notice at the two sites whose scores fell
The two sites with the lowest scores are the two whose rotas arrive last. Leavers there ran at twice the rate of the other seven.
Six months of rota publishing times by site, from an export of the scheduling system. Notice is the time between a rota being published and its first shift.
A gap in notice shows where to look. It does not establish the cause on its own.
-
03 The finding
Finding for reviewTwo sites rebuild their rotas every week, because their labour targets move every week.
Sites 4 and 7 sit next to a stadium and are the only two whose targets are revised weekly, against the fixture list. Their rotas follow the target, so they arrive two days ahead.
Ruled outThe managers. Both sites changed manager this year, and so did three sites whose scores held.
-
04 The decision
Set the targets three weeks out.
Set those two sites’ labour targets from the published fixtures three weeks ahead, and publish their rotas ten days ahead.
- Owner
- Operations director, with HR
- Next step
- Targets from the fixture list
- Compare
- Notice and leavers next quarter
An illustrative investigation. People, sites and figures are invented.Go to the room: People and culture
-
01 What people said
“A freeze doesn’t count for anything. A new member does.”
-
02 What the systems recorded
Cancellations and freezes, six months
Clubs Freeze offered Training done 26 on the new-member bonus 22% 96% 14 on the older scheme 49% 96% Shop visits, two waves Skipped in 37 of 80 22% where the bonus counts only new members, against 49% elsewhere
The gap follows the bonus scheme. Club size, shift and region do not explain it.
Six months of cancellations across all forty clubs, with whether a freeze was offered, from an export of the membership system. Two mystery-shop waves, eighty visits, from the agency’s reports.
The split by bonus scheme is where to look. It does not establish the cause on its own.
-
03 The finding
Finding for reviewStaff skip the freeze offer where the club bonus counts only new members.
At the 26 clubs on the new-member bonus, a freeze is offered in 22% of cancellations; at the 14 on the older scheme, 49%. The shop reports show the skipped step. The bonus scheme explains it.
Ruled outTraining. Completion is 96% in both groups, and the gap follows the bonus scheme.
-
04 The decision
Count a saved membership.
Count a saved membership toward the club target, and put the freeze offer into the cancellation form.
- Owner
- Head of membership
- Next step
- Change the club target
- Compare
- Freezes and cancellations, by scheme
An illustrative investigation. People, clubs and figures are invented.Go to the room: Customer experience
-
01 What people said
“The delivery is done. Then we spend days chasing the paperwork.”
-
02 What the systems recorded
Order event history
Event Recorded Case Delivery confirmed Mon 09:20 ORD-018 Proof of delivery attached Wed 14:10 ORD-018 Invoice ready Wed 14:35 ORD-018 Invoice issued Wed 15:05 ORD-018 53 h between delivery and the paperwork that lets finance invoice
The wait sits before the order is ready to invoice. Once the paperwork arrives, finance invoices within the hour.
One case, traced across the recorded handoff. A time gap shows where to investigate; it does not establish the cause on its own.
-
03 The finding
Finding for reviewThe handoff is missing a shared definition of “ready”.
Different teams use different completion criteria. An order can be delivered without the information needed to invoice it.
Ruled outFinance capacity. Once the paperwork arrives, the invoice goes out within the hour, at month end too.
-
04 The decision
Agree one handoff.
Define the fields finance needs at delivery, and name who checks them.
- Owner
- Operations and Finance
- Next step
- Agree the three fields
- Compare
- Days to invoice next quarter
An illustrative investigation. Accounts and records are invented.Go to the room: Operations
The workspace
Keep the whole
investigation in view.
Move from the question to the process, the supporting evidence and the work that follows. Each part belongs to the same investigation.
- Interviews10 people across 4 teams
- Operational recordsOrder and invoice events
- Documents and policiesChecklists, guides, policy
- Objectives and decisionsWhat the work is for
InvestigationsOrder to invoice
In reviewA clearer picture is taking shape.
Next question
What makes a delivered order ready to invoice?
Explore the evidenceInterviews
9 of 10Evidence linked
38Open questions
3Observed process, median time between steps
- Order confirmed
- 4 h
- Goods delivered
- 2.2 daysMost of the wait sits here
- Ready to invoice
- 25 min
- Invoice issued
Look at the time between steps, repeated activity and different paths through the same process.
- Order event historyWait sits before invoice readinessSupports
- Operations interview“We spend days chasing the paperwork.”Supports
- Finance interviewWaiting for reference or proofSupports
- Handoff checklistTwo definitions of doneAdds context
- Exception logRush orders skip the checkChallenges
Decision
Define one invoice-ready handoff.
Agree the required information, an owner, and what you will compare next quarter.
- Agree the three fieldsOperations and Finance
- Name the owner of the checkThis week
- Compare days to invoiceNext quarter, the client’s own check
The rooms
Three rooms so far.
Start with the question you have.
- IPeople and cultureYou have the survey results. Nothing has changed.Fig. 06The frieze
- IICustomer experienceThe scores look fine. The experience doesn’t.Fig. 08The harbour market
- IIIOperationsEvery team knows its piece. Nobody has the whole.Fig. 10The aqueduct
AlsoFor ownersFor consultants and firmsExamplesBeing interviewed?
From understanding to action
Understanding
is the start.
Then comes the work.
- 01
Review
Test the explanation against the evidence. Resolve contradictions and make the remaining questions explicit.
- 02
Decide
Bring the right people into the conversation. Agree what should change, who owns it, and what happens next.
- 03
Follow through
Carry the decision into action. Agree what you will compare next time, using the same definitions.
Fig. 04Evidence into action
Before we begin
A few useful
questions.
Is Surface just an interview tool?
Interviews are one source of evidence. In the assisted pilot, Surface also reads the records and documents that go with the question, and connects each finding to the quotes and records behind it and to a decision with an owner.
Who is Surface for?
Owners and leaders who want to see how their business really runs, and the firms who do that work for clients.
Is this safe for my people?
Each person chooses how they are quoted, and your company never sees a transcript. The page for people being interviewed sets out the rest.
What information can we bring in?
Start with the records, event history, trackers, documents and policies relevant to your question, alongside people’s experience. The useful analysis depends on the fields, history and definitions available. We can work through those requirements in a conversation.
Do we have to know the problem already?
A question or hypothesis is enough to begin. Evidence may support it, change it or point to a different question. The investigation does not need to end in a predetermined problem or an implementation project.
How does the work move beyond a report?
Each finding points to a decision with an owner. You agree what should change, who owns it, and what you will compare next time, using the same definitions.