Rigid intake categorization saves staff time at the cost of holistic service.

Evidence

Two problems arise in such a system, however. First, it is extremely difficult to circumscribe all possibilities. Thus the receptionist needs a back-up to handle calls that are not easily categorized. Second, and much more difficult to resolve, the presenting problem may be only the client’s most urgently felt concern. The client may have more pressing and perhaps easily resolvable legal problems, but he or she is not aware of them or aware that assistance may be availab1e. The system of early categorization, dependent on nondiscretionary slotting by the receptionist, produces efficient use of paraprofessional resources at the possible expense of serving the clients holistically. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 1429

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Names the precise mechanism — nondiscretionary slotting by a frontline worker — through which efficiency gains and service degradation are the same act.
• ADDENDUM: Feeds the reader’s speed-differential thesis: categorization becomes institutional the moment a receptionist is told not to exercise judgment.