Find out about halfway through the job, not at the end. Then make one decision: finish today and move the later jobs, split the work into a return visit, or hand the next job to another tech. Whichever you pick, tell the affected customers right away, while they can still plan around it.
Every board has jobs that run long. The damage depends almost entirely on when the office learns about it.
Why the timing matters
A job booked for 90 minutes that runs to 150 pushes every job after it by an hour, unless someone acts. If the office learns at minute 45 that it's going long, there are still hours to move the afternoon. If it learns at minute 150, when the tech calls from the truck, the next customer has already been waiting and the one after that is about to.
Without action, the overrun only fades as fast as the slack between jobs absorbs it. With action at halftime, it stops at the job you move. Arrival window math shows why later jobs carry the widest uncertainty: they carry every overrun before them.
Step 1: ask at halftime
Make it a habit: about halfway through every job, the tech answers one question. On track, or how much longer? The answer is a guess, but a guess at minute 45 is worth more than a fact at minute 150.
Techs rarely volunteer bad news while they're working. The ask has to be routine, short and blame-free, or it won't happen.
CrewLink's tech app does this as a mid-job check-in: about halfway through a job the app asks if the tech is on track or needs +15, +30 or +60 minutes. An extension re-flows the rest of that tech's day right away: later jobs that no longer fit are handed to a teammate who can make the same time, or moved to the nearest open time, and the affected customers are texted.
Step 2: pick one of three moves
Finish today and move what's after it
Best when the overrun is short, the customer needs it done, and later jobs have room to shift or another tech can take them. Move the job right after the overrun first; it's the one with the least time to recover.
Split into a return visit
Best when the job turned out bigger than booked: a repair that became a replacement, a part you don't have, a scope the customer added on site. Stop at a safe point, quote the rest, and book it as its own job with the right length. This usually also needs a new price; see field service quoting and estimates.
Hand the next job to another tech
Best when the next customer can't move and a qualified teammate has a gap nearby. Check that the teammate can actually make the time, counting the drive from wherever they'll be, or you just move the problem to their row.
Step 3: tell the next customers now
The customer whose 1 p.m. becomes 2 p.m. is far more forgiving at 11 a.m. than at 1:15. Tell them early, give a new time, and offer to move them to another day if the new time doesn't work. The customer communication guide covers wording.
Tell the customer whose job ran long too. If it's going to cost more, they should know before the work is done, not on the invoice.
Step 4: fix the estimate, not just the day
One long job is noise. The same job type running long every week is a booking problem. Compare booked length with actual time on site by job type every month. If furnace repairs are booked at 90 minutes and average 120, change the booking length. The job duration estimate entry covers how, and schedule adherence shows how to measure whether the day held.
Watch for the opposite too. A tech who never reports running long may be rushing to stay on schedule, and rushed jobs come back as callbacks.
What to take away
- The damage from a long job depends on when the office finds out.
- Ask every tech, about halfway through every job: on track, or how much longer?
- Choose one move: finish and shift later jobs, split into a return visit, or hand the next job to a teammate.
- Tell affected customers as soon as you decide, with a new time.
- If a job type keeps running long, change its booked length.
Common questions
What should a technician do when a job is taking longer than expected?
Tell the office as early as possible, ideally about halfway through, with a rough estimate of how much longer. Then the office can move or hand off later jobs before those customers start waiting.
Should I finish a long job or come back another day?
Finish if the overrun is modest and later jobs can move or be handed off. Come back if the job turned into a bigger job than was booked, since it likely needs a new quote and a properly sized slot anyway.
How do I tell a customer their technician will be late?
As soon as you know, with a specific new time and an offer to rebook if it doesn't work for them. A text at 11 a.m. about a 1 p.m. job lands much better than a call at 1:15.
How do I stop jobs from running long?
Book each job type at the length it actually takes on site, not the length you wish it took. Review booked versus actual time monthly and adjust the job types that keep running over.