Real-Life Math -- Solution
You need to figure out how to divide each category equally for each
of 4 help desk technicians.
First, subtract 5 hours from the 37.5 hours
worked for project time. That leaves 32.5 hours to break up into the 3 remaining
categories.
37.5 - 5 = 32.5
Next,
divide 32.5 hours by 3 (for the remaining categories). The result is 10.8
hours for each remaining category.
32.5 / 3 = 10.8
Then,
multiply the 0.8 by 60 to convert the decimal part to a minute value. With
that calculation, 0.8 of an hour turns out to be 48 minutes.
0.8
x 60 = 48
Each week, each support worker will devote
10 hours and 48 minutes to each of the first 3 categories. They will devote
5 hours to the 4th category.
| Primary call taking: | 10 hours 48 minutes |
| Secondary call taking: | 10 hours 48 minutes |
| Administrative duties: | 10 hours 48 minutes |
| Project time: | 5 hours |
The next issue will be how to break this time up
to fit in with the lunch breaks. That's something to figure out another day!
"You're
using Excel for a lot of different things, especially at a management level
and higher, for tracking things [such as] inventory, budget -- those are all
math concepts," says technical instructor Orrett Morgan. "And even though
the software does some things for you, you still have to understand how they
work."