| How ‘red-taped’ are
you? |
| |
| Try
this quiz!* Although the results are not scientifically
proven,
this quiz is a fun way to look at the Cut Red Tape
Movement from a different perspective. Find out
if you are tied up in red tape by answering the
questions and adding up your score! |
| |
|
1
|
A journalist
calls up to ask about what all the departments
in your agency
do. |
(a)
|
You can give short explanations
of what each department does. |
| (b) |
You
don’t know how many is “all” the
departments in your
agency. |
| (c) |
You can give in-depth explanations of what
each department does, how they are related
to each other and what the overarching vision-mission
statement is. |
|
| Efficiency declines
when people are unsure of who is in charge of what. |
| |
|
2
|
Your
boss just rejected your Staff Suggestion
without explanation. What
do you do? |
(a)
|
You
accept it. |
| (b) |
You
resubmit the suggestion with minor changes. |
| (c) |
You
ask why. |
|
| Asking questions and
being persistent can help to reduce red tape. |
| |
|
3
|
When
you are lost in a foreign land, what are
you most likely to do? |
(a)
|
Try
to find your own way around and give up after
a short while because it is too difficult
and tiring. |
| (b) |
Stop
one person on the street and ask for directions.
Then you follow his/her
advice. |
| (c) |
Stop
one person on the street and ask for directions,
but you check his/her directions with either
a map or another person before acting on
the advice. |
|
| Giving
people the wrong directions can cause unnecessary
delays. If you take the extra step to check that
your directions are correct, you can save others
a lot of hassle. |
| |
|
4
|
What
do you do most often when you are having
a conversation with your friends? |
(a)
|
Point
out flaws in logic. |
| (b) |
Try
to go beyond their words to understand why
they are saying them. |
| (c) |
Let
them talk as much as they want to, and when
there’s a pause, you say what you want
to. |
|
| Good
listening skills are vital when it comes to cutting
red tape. In fact, trying to correct the other
person’s facts or pushing your own opinions
may contribute
to red tape. |
| |
|
5
|
You
bought a $80 electronic gadget. When you
get home, you find that it does not work.
What do you do? |
(a)
|
Bring
it back to the shop. When the salesperson
tells you it was sold in perfect condition
and that you must have damaged it on the
way home, you say
sorry and leave. |
| (b) |
Bring
it back to the shop. When the salesperson
tries to tell you that
it’s your fault, you ask to see the manager. |
| (c) |
Say “Never
mind, lah. Life is like that.” |
|
| How
you respond as a customer is likely to be how
you expect your customer to
react. So if you’re an “active” customer (b), you already know
what to do to provide responsive service. If you’re a “passive” customer
[(a) or (c)], remember that not everyone is as easygoing as you are and that
the Public Service seeks to delight its customers, i.e. exceed their expectations,
not merely satisfy them. |
| |
|
6
|
Imagine
you are an MCDS customer relations officer.
You receive a complaint about noise disturbance
caused by children playing football at a
field near the
complainant’s house. Your email response is: |
(a)
|
This
matter is not under
the purview of MCDS. |
| (b) |
This
matter is not under the purview of MCDS.
We have forwarded your feedback to NParks.
They will follow up with you from now on. |
| (c) |
Please
see the response from NParks. If you have
any further queries regarding this area,
you might like to talk to them directly as
they are the agency in charge. MCDS would
be pleased to be of service the next time
you have feedback relating to families, sports
promotion and social welfare. |
|
| By
giving no answer (b) or by not providing further
directions (a), you are contributing to red
tape. So even when you can’t provide an
answer directly, think of ways to add value to
your response, and people will appreciate that
you tried. |
| |
| How do you score? |
| Q |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
| a |
1 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
| b |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
| c |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
|
