What will In-Tray exercise be assessing?
In-tray and e-tray exercises are basically fictitious documents from which candidates must tackle tasks deciding what actions to take. The documents or 'items' are unordered deliberately with important and irrelevant issues mixed up with one another. It is up to the candidate to distinguish between the two.
No matter what the in-tray exercise is about, the in-tray exercise will be assessing your ability on:
• Sorting through, take in and analyse complex information efficiently, effectively usually under pressure.
• Explore and identify key issues and prioritise your work accordingly
• Communicate effectively about the decisions you have made and to identify any special problems or issues that arise from the set of tasks and documents you are given
• How clearly and effectively you can explain your decisions and actions
The responses you give in your in-tray or e-tray exercise will be compared to a score sheet that lists the actions you took or should have considered taking. Some in-tray or e-tray exercises are only require written answers. Yet, often some assessors would ask candidates to give explanations for their decisions. This gives the candidates a opportunity to talk through their observations, demonstrating what they have picked up on. When an in-tray or e-tray exercise is simply a written exercise, more often that not candidates overlook writing down all their thoughts.
Examples of in-tray and e-tray exercise
A classic example assessors and employers may use for candidates is that you have been told you have just returned from holiday, your in-box is full and you have to meet certain deadlines. Candidates can face an in-tray exercise containing anything between 10-20 items with a time limit of about 90 minutes.
Here is a list giving you an idea of what types of documents the in-tray or e-tray exercise will consist of:
• A customer complaint letter
• Email from your manager to attend a meeting later in the day
• Email from HR asking you to fill in a survey on employee benefits
• Copy of the company's monthly sales figures and target forecasts
• Email saying that a new colleague will be starting tomorrow and you have to put together a work plan for them
• Missed call note from your secretary about a marketing company failing to make payment of their invoice
• Memo on an urgent health and safety bulletin
• Email from IT support about essential maintenance work
Remember to a pay attention to the dates of the items. Not so urgent items may now be urgent items now since returning from your fictional holiday.
Important things to know during the in-tray exercise
• It is vitally important not to underestimate the significance of communicating your thought processes over to the assessor or employer
• Must be clear about the reasons behind your actions and decisions so that the assessor or employer can give credit on your knowledge and response
• Attitude towards the in tray exercise will also be assessed. Key characteristics should include being: presentable; organised; willing to go that extra mile
• Many in-tray exercises have a central ‘theme’ that you are expected to identify. By identifying this theme within the in-tray exercise, it will enhance your understanding of the in tray exercise and allow you to evaluate and prioritise tasks and information as well as influence decisions
Depending on the job role or the employer, in-tray and e-tray exercises can be based around a continual scenario from other tasks or exercises you might have done. Or the in-tray or e-tray exercise maybe based on a completely different scenario.
Links:
Job Test Prep - What in-tray exercises will assess
Newcastle University - Example exercises
Also see: