IAC 2024 - IA Fast Track to Search Focused AI Solutions
Psycholgyof waitinglines751
1. The Psychology of Waiting
Lines
By David H. Maister
Introduction various 'queue management' techniques:
for example, what the effects are upon
In one of a series of memorable
average waiting times of adding servers,
advertisements for which it has become
altering 'queue discipline' (the order in
justly famous, Federal Express (the
which customers are served), speeding
overnight package delivery service)
up serving times, and so on. What has
noted that: "Waiting is frustrating,
been relatively neglected, however, is
demoralizing, agonizing, aggravating,
much substantive discussion of the
annoying, time consuming and
experience of waiting.
incredibly expensive." (1)
As Levitt reminds us, "Products are
The truth of this assertion cannot be
consumed, services are experienced."
denied: there can be few consumers of
Accordingly, if managers are to concern
services in a modern society who have
themselves with how long their
not felt, at one time or another, each of
customers or clients wait in line for
the emotions identified by Federal
service (as, indeed, they should), then
Express' copywriters. What is more,
they must pay attention not only to the
each of us who can recall such
readily-measurable, objective, reality of
experiences can also attest to the fact
waiting times, but also how those waits
that the waiting-line experience in a
are experienced. It is a common
service facility significantly affects our
experience that a two minute wait can
overall perceptions of the quality of
feel like nothing at all, or can feel like
service provided.
'forever'. We must learn to influence
Once we are being served, our how the customer feels about a given
transaction with the service organization length of waiting time.
may be efficient, courteous and
In this paper, I shall discuss the
complete: but the bitter taste of how long
psychology of waiting lines, examining
it took to get attention pollutes the
how waits are experienced and shall
overall judgments that we make about
attempt to offer specific managerial
the quality of service
advice to service organizations about
The mathematical theory of waiting lines how to improve this aspect of their
(or queues) has received a great deal of service encounters. down in separate
attention from academic researchers and components, so that practicing managers
their results and insights have been can begin to think about the available
successfully applied in a variety of tools they can use to influence the
settings. (2) However, most of this work customer's waiting experience.
is concerned with the objective reality of
Copyright 2005 David H. Maister Page 1 of 1 www.davidmaister.com
2. The Psychology of Waiting Lines
I also hope to identify testable waited for elevators. The natural
propositions offering the opportunity for tendency of people to check their
future research. The First and Second personal appearance substantially
Laws of Service. Before we discuss the reduced complaints, although the actual
laws of waiting, it is necessary to wait for the elevators was unchanged.
consider two general propositions about (5)
service encounters and how these are As an illustration of how expectations
experienced. can be explicitly managed, they note that
The first of these is what I have come to "some restaurants follow the practice of
call "The First Law of Science is simple, promising guests a waiting time in
but powerful, and can be stated as a excess of the 'expected time'. If people
straightforward formula: are willing to agree to wait this length of
time, they are quite pleased to be seated
S = P - E.
earlier, thus starting the meal with a
In this formulation, 'S' stands for more positive feeling. (6)
satisfaction, 'P' for perception and 'E' for
This last example deserves further
expectation. If you expect a certain level
of service, and perceive the service exploration. When I have discussed this
reviewed to be higher, you are a satisfied anecdote with a variety of serving
personnel, they always reaffirm its
client. If you perceive the same level as
wisdom. As one waiter pointed out to
before, but expected higher, you are
me: "If they sit down in a good mood,
disappointed and, consequently, a
it's easy to keep them happy. If they sit
dissatisfied client.
down disgruntled, it's almost impossible
The point, of course, is that both the to turn them around. They're looking to
perception and the expectation are find fault, to criticize."
psychological phenomena. They are not
the reality. In a benevolent world, both As a result of these conversations, I offer
the perception and the expectation will my 'Second Law of Service':
have some connection to reality, but they It's hard to plan catch-up ball.
are not reality. Accordingly, all service The corollary to this law is the
managers must pay attention to three
proposition that there is a halo-effect
things: what was actually done to or for created by the early stages of any service
the client, what was perceived by the encounter, and that if money, time and
client, and what the client expected. attention is to be spent in improving the
Fortunately, all three can be managed. perceived quality of service, then the
Sasser (et al) provide good examples of largest payback may well occur in these
both managing the perception and the early stages.
expectation of waiting times. For the Having established the importance of the
former, they offer the example of 'the
interplay between perceptions and
well-known hotel group that received expectations, we shall turn to an
complaints from guests about excessive
examination of the various tools
waiting times for elevators. After an available to managers in influencing
analysis of how elevator service might these. In each of the sections that follow,
be improved, it was suggested that
the title of the section should be
mirrors be installed near where guests
Copyright 2005 David H. Maister Page 2 of 2 www.davidmaister.com
3. The Psychology of Waiting Lines
considered a proposition concerning the the waiting experience into the total
psychology of waiting. service experience).
We begin with one of the most familiar: This suggests that the activity provided
to 'fill time' should (a) offer benefit in
Occupied Time Feels Shorter Than
and of itself, and (b) be related, in some
Unoccupied Time.
way, to the following service encounter.
As William James, the noted philosopher
The best example of this I ever
observed: "Boredom results from being
encountered in relation to telephone
attentive to the passage of time itself. (7)
waits was the story of the sports team
A more colloquial version might be 'A
that, when lines were occupied, played
watched pot never boils'. The truth of
highlights of the previous week's game.
this proposition has been discovered by
In one memorable incident, a caller was
many service organizations. In various
transferred from the queue to the
restaurants, it is common practice to
receptionist, whereupon he screamed
hand out menus for customers to peruse
"Put me back, (so-and-so) is just about
while waiting in line. Apart from
to score!"
shortening the perception of time, this
practice has the added benefit of It should also be noted, however, that
shortening the service time, since there can be circumstances where a
customers will be ready to order once service may choose to fill time with an
they are seated, and will not tie up table unrelated activity. In certain medical or
space making up their minds). dental waiting rooms, there appears to be
a conscious attempt to distract the
A similar tactic is to turn the waiting
patient's attention from the upcoming
area into a bar, which also adds to
activity, perhaps on the grounds that to
revenue as well as occupying time. Use
can be made of poster, reading material remind the patient of what is about to
occur might heighten fears and hence
(or even shifting lights, rolling balls and
make the wait more uncomfortable.
other 'adult toys') to distract the waiter's
attention away from the passage of time. The wisdom of this I cannot attest to (I
'Theme' restaurants (such as Victoria have read too many National Geographic
Station) which provide interesting magazines). Even in this context, it is
memorabilia to examine also are possible to provide service-related
applying the lesson of occupying waits distractions. Many medical clinics
as part of the service. provide weighing machines and eye
In some situations, such as telephone charts, in the waiting room: I have even
seen patients merrily occupied with self-
waits, it is difficult to "fill up" time in a
testing thermometers, breath-strength
constructive way. The familiar 'Muzak'
played by some organizations when their equipment and the like.
telephone-answering agents are busy is, People Want to Get Started.
to many people, an added annoyance One of the other virtues of handing out
rather than a benefit. In large part, this is menus, providing a drinks bar and other
because the activity (listening to music) methods of service-related time-fillers is
is totally unrelated to the service activity that they convey the sense the 'service
to come (whereas, the use of menus and has started: we know that you are here'. I
bars cited above successfully integrated would hypothesize that people waiting to
Copyright 2005 David H. Maister Page 3 of 3 www.davidmaister.com
4. The Psychology of Waiting Lines
make their first human contact with the had the experience of choosing a line at
service organization are much more the supermarket or airport, and stood
impatient than those who have 'begun': there worrying that he had, indeed,
in other words, preprocess waits are chosen the wrong line. As one stands
perceived as longer than in-process there trying to decide whether to move,
waits. the anxiety level increases and the wait
becomes intolerable. This situation is
Again, I appeal to common experience
covered by what is known as Erma
to reflect the fact that one's 'anxiety'
Bombeck's Law:
level is much higher while waiting to be
served than it is while being served, even "The other line always moves faster".
though the latter wait may be longer. Is there anyone who has not had the
There is a fear of 'being forgotten'. (How experience of choosing a line at the
many times has the reader gone back to a supermarket or airport, and stood there
maitre d' to check that his or her name is worrying that we had, indeed, chosen the
still on the list?). wrong line? On a recent (open-seating)
Many restaurant owners instruct their Eastern Airlines shuttle fight, my fellow
service staff to pass by the table as soon passengers formed an agitated queue at
as the customers are seated to say "I'll be the boarding gate long before the flight
with you as soon as I can, after I've was due to depart, leading the attendant
looked after that table over there". In to announce: "Don't worry, folks, the
essence, the signal is being sent: 'We plane's a big one; you'll all get on."
have acknowledged your presence'. The change in atmosphere in the waiting
One walk-in medical clinic that I studied lounge was remarkable. Similar effort to
decided to introduce a triage system, deal with customer anxiety can be seen
whereby all patients were first met by a when airlines make on-board
nurse who recorded the patient's name announcements that connecting flights
and symptoms and decided whether or are being held for a delayed flight, when
not the patient could be treated by a movie theater managers walk down the
registered nurse practitioner or should be line reassuring patrons they will get in,
seen by a doctor. Even though the or when customer service agents in
addition of this step in the process had airport lobbies reassure waiting patrons
no impact on the time it took to see a that they are indeed waiting in the
medical service provider, surveys correct line and have sufficient time to
showed that patients were pleased with catch their flight.
'reduced waiting times'. The point, of One of the poorest examples I know of
course, was that they felt they had been manning anxiety is when I am on
'entered into' the system. standby for a flight, and the agent takes
Anxiety Makes Waits Seem Longer my ticket. Now I am anxious not only
about whether I will get on the flight, but
A large part of the concern that we feel
also about whether I will get my ticket
to 'get started' is due as noted above, to
back. I have been asked to give up
anxiety. In the cases cited, the anxiety
control of the situation. At least if I had
was about whether or not one had been
my ticket I could change my mind and
forgotten. Anxiety can, however, come
go to another airline. The prescription
from other sources. Nearly everyone has
for managers resulting form this
Copyright 2005 David H. Maister Page 4 of 4 www.davidmaister.com
5. The Psychology of Waiting Lines
discussion is: ask yourself what often difficult to decide how far apart to
customers might be worrying abut schedule appointments. If they are too
(rationally or irrationally), and find ways far apart, the server is left idle waiting
to remove the worry. for the next appointment. If they are too
close together, appointments begin to
Uncertain Waits Are Longer than
run behind and, since they cumulate,
Known, Finite Waits
tend to make the server further and
The most profound source of anxiety in further behind.
waiting is how long the wait will be. For
This is a particularly acute problem
example, if a patient in a waiting room is
because a customer with an appointment
told that the doctor will be delayed thirty
has been given a specific expectation
minutes, he experiences an initial
about waiting times, and a failure to
annoyance but then relaxes into an
deliver on this premise makes the wait
acceptance of the inevitability of the
seem longer than if no appointment had
wait. However, if the patient is told the
been made. This does not mean that
doctor will be free soon, he spends the
whole time in a state of nervous appointment systems should never be
anticipation, unable to settle down, used. They are, after all, a way of giving
the customer a finite expectation. It
afraid to depart and come back. The
should be recognized, however, that an
patient's expectations are being managed
appointment defines an expectation that
poorly. Likewise, the pilot who
must be met.
repeatedly announces "only a few more
minutes” adds insult to injury when the Unexplained Waits Are Longer than
wait goes on and on. Not only are the Explained Waits
customers being force d to wait, but they On a cold and snowy morning, when I
are not being dealt with honestly. telephone for a taxi, I begin with the
A good example of the role of expectation that my wait will be longer
uncertainty in the waiting experience is than on a clear, summer day.
provided by the "appointment Accordingly, I wait with a great deal
syndrome." Clients who arrive early for more patience because I understand the
an appointment will sit contentedly until causes for the delay. Similarly, if a
the scheduled time, even if this is a doctor's receptionist informs me that an
significant amount of time in an absolute emergency has taken place, I can wait
sense (say, thirty minutes). However, with greater equanimity that if I do not
once the appointment time is passed, know what is going on. Airline pilots
even a short wait of, say, ten minutes, understand this principle well; on-board
grows increasingly annoying. The wait announcements are filled with references
until the appointed time is finite; waiting to tardy baggage handlers, fog over
beyond the point has no knowable limit. landing strips, safety checks, and air-
traffic controllers' clearance instructions.
Appointment systems are, in practice,
The explanation given may or may not
troublesome queue-management tools.
exculpate the service provider, but is it
They suffer form the problem that some
better than no explanation at all.
customers may make appointments
without showing up (a problem endemic Most serving personnel are repeatedly
to airlines, hotels, dentists, and hair asked about the circumstances in waiting
cutters) and also from the fact that it is situations. The lack of an explanation is
Copyright 2005 David H. Maister Page 5 of 5 www.davidmaister.com
6. The Psychology of Waiting Lines
one of the prime factors adding to a Unfair Waits Are Longer than
customer's uncertainty about the length Equitable Waits
of the wait. However, knowing the As Sasser, Olsen, and Wycoff (1979)
length of the wait is not the only reason note, one of the most frequent irritants
a customer wants an explanation. As the mentioned by customers at restaurants is
Federal Express advertisement points the prior seating of those who have
out, waiting is also demoralizing. arrived later. They observe: "The feeling
Waiting in ignorance creates a feeling of that somebody has successfully 'cut in
powerlessness, which frequently results
front' of you causes even the most
in visible irritation and rudeness on the patient customer to become furious.
part of customers as they harass serving Great care to be equitable is vital" (1979,
personnel in an attempt to reclaim their 89)
status as paying clients. In turn, this
behavior makes it difficult for the In many waiting situations, there is no
serving personnel to maintain their visible order to the waiting line. In
equanimity. For example, on a situations such as waiting for a subway
significantly delayed flight, one cabin train, the level of anxiety demonstrated
attendant was force to announce to the is high, and the group waiting is less a
passengers: "Please pay us the courtesy queue than a mob. Instead of being able
of being polite to us so that we can to relax, each individual remains in a
reciprocate in kind." state of nervousness about whether their
priority in the line is being preserved. As
Naturally, justifiable explanations will
already noted, agitated waits seem
tend to soothe the waiting customer
longer than relaxed waits. It is for this
more than unjustifiable explanations. A
reason that many service facilities have a
subtle illustration of this is provided by
system of taking a number, whereby
the practice of many fast food chains
each customer is issued a number and
which instruct serving personnel to take
served in strict numerical order. In some
their rest breaks out of sight of waiting
facilities, the number currently being
customers. The sight of what seems to be
served is prominently displayed so that
available serving personnel sitting idle
customers can estimate the expected
while customers wait, is a source of
waiting times.
irritation.
Such systems can work well in queuing
Even if such personnel are, in fact,
situations where "first in, first out"
occupied (for example, a bank teller who (FIFO) is the appropriate rule for queue
is not serving customers but catching up
discipline. However, in many situations
on paperwork), the sight of serving customers may be ranked in order of
personnel not actually serving customers importance, and priorities allocated that
is "unexplained." In the customers' eyes,
way. A good example is a walk-in
he or she is waiting longer than
medical facility which will frequently
necessary. The explanation that the break the FIFO rule to handle emergency
"idle" personnel are taking a break or cases. Also familiar is the example of the
performing other tasks is frequently less
restaurant that has a finite supply of two-
than acceptable. person, four-person, and large tables,
and seats customers by matching the size
of the party to the size of the table. A
Copyright 2005 David H. Maister Page 6 of 6 www.davidmaister.com
7. The Psychology of Waiting Lines
final example is the use of express- The main point to be stressed here is that
checkout lanes in supermarkets, whereby the customer's sense of equity is not
customers with only a few items are always obvious, and needs to be
dealt with a special server. explicitly managed. Whatever priority
All of these cases represent departures rules apply, the service provider must
form the FIFO system. In some, the make vigorous efforts to ensure that
priority rules are accepted by the these rules match with the customer's
customers as equitable and observed-for sense of equity, either by adjusting the
rules or by actively convincing the client
example, the supermarket express
checkout. In other illustrations, such as that the rules are indeed appropriate.
the restaurant with varying sizes of The More Valuable the Service, the
tables, the priority rule that seats Longer the Customer Will Wait
customers by the size of party is less
The example of the supermarket
accepted by the customers, and express-checkout counter reminds us
frequently resented. The rule may serve
that our tolerance for waiting depends
the restaurant, but the customer has a
upon the perceived value of that for
harder time seeing the equity benefit.
which we wait. Special checkout
Similarly, special service facilities for counters were originally provided
important customers may or may not be because customers with only a few items
accepted as equitable. For this reason, felt resentful at having to wait a long
many service facilities physically time for what was seen as a simple
separate premium servers (for example, transaction. Customers with a full cart of
first-class airline check-in counters) groceries were much more inclined to
form the sight of regular customers sot tolerate lines.
hat the latter will not resent the special Airlines, too, have discovered this
service rendered. principle and provided separate lines for
A slightly different example of the those with simple transactions (such as
equity problem in queue management is seat selection), medium-difficulty
provided by the serving person who is transactions (baggage check-in), and
responsible not only for dealing with complex transactions (ticket purchase or
customers present in the serving facility, modification). Specialization by task
but also for answering the telephone. does not necessarily reduce the
How many of us have not had the aggregate amount of waiting in the
system; however, it serves well to
experience of waiting while a
receptionist answers the telephones, and allocate the waiting among the customer
base.
consequently felt a resentment that some
distant customer was receiving a higher That perceived value affects tolerance or
priority than we who have made the waits can be demonstrated by our
effort to come to the service facility? common experience in restaurants-we
The example can be extended to those will accept a much longer waiting time
people who answer their telephone while at a haute cuisine facility than at a
you are in their office. by answering the "greasy spoon." In universities, there is
phone, they are giving you a lesser an old rule of thumb that if the teacher is
priority than the random caller. delayed, "You wait ten minutes for an
assistant professor, fifteen minutes for an
Copyright 2005 David H. Maister Page 7 of 7 www.davidmaister.com
8. The Psychology of Waiting Lines
associate professor, and twenty minutes This syndrome is evidently in effect in
for a full professor." This illustrates well amusement parks such as Disneyland, or
the principle that tolerance for waits in some waiting lines to buy concert
depends upon perceived value of tickets when a sense of group
service-perhaps with the emphasis on the community develops and the line turns
perception. into almost a service encounter in its
It follows from this principle that own right; the waiting is part of the fun
waiting for something of little value can and part of the service. Whatever service
organizations can do to promote the
be intolerable. This is amply illustrated
by the eagerness with which airline sense of group waiting rather than
isolating each individual, will tend to
passengers leap to their seats when the
airplane reaches the gate, even though increase the tolerance for waiting time
they know that it will take time to unload Conclusion
all the passengers ahead of them, and The propositions presented here are by
that they may well have to wait for their no means meant to be an exhaustive list
baggage to arrive at the claim area. The
of all the psychological considerations
same passenger who sat patiently for involved in managing customers'
some hours during the flight suddenly acceptance of waiting time. Not
exhibits an intolerance for an extra discussed, for example, is the
minute or two to disembark, and a fury importance of explicit apologies and
at an extra few minutes for delayed apologetic tones in preserving the
baggage.
customer's sense of valued-client status.
The point is that the service (the flight) Similarly unmentioned are cultural and
is over, and waiting to get out when class difference in tolerance for waiting.
there is no more value to be received is It is said of the English, for example,
aggravating. A similar syndrome is that if they see a line they will join it. I
exhibited at hotel checkout counters. Just hope, however, that the managerial
as preprocess waits are felt to be longer reader will have gained a greater
than in-process waits of the same time appreciation both for the psychological
duration, so are post process waits; complexity of queues, and for the fact
these, in fact, feel longest of all. that the psychological experience of
Solo Waits Feel Longer than Group waiting can be managed.
Waits The propositions given here can be
One of the remarkable syndromes to researched not only by academics for
observe in waiting lines is to see their general applicability, but also by
individuals sitting or standing next to managers for application in specific
each other without talking or otherwise service situations. The main point of this
interacting until an announcement of a chapter is that the waiting experience is
delay is made. Then the individuals context specific. By learning to research
suddenly turn to each other to express and understand the psychological
their exasperation, wonder collectively context of their own waiting lines,
what is happening, and console each managers can have a significant impact
other. What this illustrates is that there is upon their customers' satisfaction with
some form of comfort in group waiting the service encounter.
rather than waiting alone.
Copyright 2005 David H. Maister Page 8 of 8 www.davidmaister.com
