What residual risk can the service owner consider?
Ridgewell Services is planning a two-day pilot. The service owner wants to admit as many requests as the case limits allow.
The question
The owner can approve at most 2 standard requests from each day’s intake unreviewed at that day’s cutoff, with no high-priority request unreviewed. Each day has a distinct group of requests. Prior unresolved requests stay on the exception register. The team can hold standard requests before admitting them. The pilot lead checks the cutoff count.
| Requests per day | |
|---|---|
| Expected intake | 50 |
| Primary control covers, including all high-priority requests | 40 |
| Standard requests that need fallback review | 10 |
| Manual reviews available at opening | 8 |
The primary control was verified for this workload. The exception can last up to two days.
“Brief the service owner on what would remain unreviewed and the decision you recommend.”
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A strong answer, step by step
Open each step in turn. This is one strong answer, not the only one.
Step 1: What risk remains at opening?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Report that all 50 have review because the primary control was verified
Tempting, but it misses something. The primary control covers 40. Ten require fallback.
Report two standard requests per daily cutoff, up to four across two days
The strong move. The groups are distinct and the limit is per day’s intake.
Report only two requests at risk across the whole pilot
Tempting, but it misses something. Each day can add two different requests.
See how a strong candidate says it
“Two standard requests from each day’s intake could miss review at the cutoff. All high-priority requests have primary coverage. Across two days, four distinct requests could miss same-day review.”
Why it works: The daily count uses the ten requests that need fallback, less eight manual reviews.
Step 2: What does the owner need to decide?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Proceed because the plan fits the exception limit
Tempting, but it misses something. The limit describes what the owner may approve. It is not approval.
Record the limits, expiry and daily check for the owner
The strong move. This shows the exposure and the point when the team needs a new decision.
Set an indefinite exception with a review date later
Tempting, but it misses something. The case allows an exception of up to two days.
See how a strong candidate says it
“I would show the daily exposure and two-day expiry. The pilot lead checks the cutoff count. I would ask the service owner to approve the exception before using it.”
Why it works: The case gives approval to the service owner. The team needs a clear stop condition for the daily limit.
Step 3: How much intake can proceed now?
A staffing update reduces available manual reviews to 5 per day. Primary coverage and expected intake stay the same.
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Admit all 50 and report five open at cutoff
Tempting, but it misses something. Five misses exceed the two-request limit for that day’s intake.
Cap intake at 47 and hold three standard requests before admission
The strong move. Five of the seven admitted fallback requests can be reviewed. Two may remain at cutoff.
Cap intake at 45 because that is the maximum with zero missed reviews
Tempting, but it misses something. The owner asked to serve as many as the stated limit allows. Two standard misses are within the possible exception.
See how a strong candidate says it
“Full intake would leave five standard requests without same-day review. I would recommend admitting 47 requests. Keep the 40 covered by the primary control, admit seven standard requests that need fallback and hold three before admission.”
Why it works: With five manual reviews and at most two standard misses at cutoff, seven fallback requests can enter.
Step 4: What goes in the decision record?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Record the cap, daily exposure, expiry and approval owner
The strong move. The record tells the team what can proceed and what needs a new decision.
Ask the team to remove prior requests from the register each day
Tempting, but it misses something. A new daily count does not resolve earlier exceptions.
Apply the 47-request cap after the exception expires
Tempting, but it misses something. The case calls for a fresh decision when the two-day window ends.
See how a strong candidate says it
“I would record the proposed cap of 47 per day for up to two days, and two standard requests at risk of late review each day. The pilot lead checks the count and stops admissions if the limit would be exceeded. The service owner decides. I would leave prior unresolved requests on the register.”
Why it works: An approved limit applies to new intake within the stated scope. It leaves earlier exceptions visible.
The answer, in short
- Decision
- Propose a cap of 47 per day and ask the service owner to decide on the two-day exception.
- Because
- The primary control covers 40 and manual review covers five. Two standard requests from each day’s admitted intake remain unreviewed at cutoff.
- What would change it
- Three more manual reviews each day would support full intake within the same exception limit.
Common traps
- Record both admitted requests and held requests.
- Keep earlier unresolved requests on the register.
Check your answer
- I measured daily exposure.
- I named the owner and expiry.
- I revised the intake limit.
- I kept earlier exceptions visible.
Last reviewed Nov 11, 2026