The Trial Period

Eva worked in a bookshop where several customers complained that they could not get there before closing time. She suggested keeping it open for two extra hours on Thursdays. Her manager agreed to a four-week trial, and Eva offered to take the late shift herself. A short trial seemed a reasonable way to test the idea before changing the staff’s hours permanently.

At the end of the four weeks, Thursday sales were higher. Eva prepared a chart and a proposal recommending that they continue. Before the meeting, her colleague Paul asked whether the extra sales covered the extra costs. Eva realised that she had recorded the money coming in without calculating what the shop had spent to stay open.

They added the extra wages and electricity to their figures. The evening opening still made a small profit, but it was much smaller than Eva expected. There was another difficulty: some regular customers were now buying on Thursday what they used to buy on Saturday. The figures for one day could not explain the effect on the whole week.

Instead of ignoring those questions, Eva rewrote the proposal. She suggested a second, shorter trial comparing weekly profit, with questions for evening customers about whether they could have visited at another time. She also made it clear that the late shift should be voluntary. Although she was happy to work it, other staff might have different responsibilities outside work.

The manager accepted the revised plan and asked whether Eva was disappointed. She admitted that she had hoped for a clear yes to her first proposal. Still, the second plan would give them a better way to judge the idea. Paul said afterwards that she was now trying to understand what would work, rather than simply trying to win the argument.