Map out your shrinkage.
July 4 – The benefit of using a map is the ability to form plans based on the turns and terrain ahead. You are unlikely to ignore your fuel light if the next gas station is 80 miles away. You are also unlikely to stop at every gas station you approach if you know there […]
Extend schedule-change empowerment to your supervisors.
June 27 – The recent proliferation of customer service channels has contributed to the increase in the number of schedule changes initiated by workforce administrators as they strive to meet service levels while the growing agent demand for work-life balance empowerment is contributing to an increase in the number of agent initiated schedule-change requests at […]
What do you mean this thing does much more?!?!?!
June 20 – Have you ever bought a new phone and didn’t fully understand all of its capabilities, so you just used the basic functionality (talk and/or text)? *deep sigh raises hand, hangs head low real low* You later find out that the phone does so much than you even imagined and if you’d been […]
Increase flexibility for leave and time off requests.
June 13 – Workforce Management is inflexible. They like saying “no.” They don’t think of the human side of working in a contact center. They expect me to work when I’m sick. I can never take time off when I need to. Do you ever hear these comments in your contact center? Whether it is […]
Show visual comparisons to show activity outside normal ranges.
May 30 – Add a checkpoint to your models that compares or evaluates your results to past activity and/or normal ranges for data points, and calls attention visually to metrics that may be out of range. For example, when forecasting, use formulas to find normalized peak and valley points for a given day type […]
Making use of overstaffing.
May 23 – No matter how well optimized your workforce is, there will inevitably be times you experience overstaffing. Sometimes this occurs for just a few intervals while other times it may occur for a few days. It can even occur for several weeks. As workforce managers, what are we to do when faced with […]
Tips for dealing with change.
May 9 – Does the word “realignment” or “shift bid” strike fear in your Call Center? Does your workforce management team hide in the restroom when new shifts go into effect? Here are a couple of techniques to try to alleviate some of the anxiety associated with a re-bid. Begin the process well ahead of […]
Right time vs. time off the phones.
May 2 – We all know time off the phones can be critical in order to process service request or customer inquiries that come in. Do we really know what the right amount of time is per an agent? Are we giving to much/too little? Do you rely on what the team leads/managers tell you […]
Be a driver on how agents view WFM in your organization.
April 25 – How do agents view WFM in your organization? ➔ The blockers to agents having time off ➔ The bullies that make you work overtime ➔ The control freaks that tell you what to do and when to do it ➔ The indecisive planners that create schedules and then change them for no […]
Don’t forget to investigate attrition in your center.
April 18 – Attrition is a crucial measurement to managers interested in keeping costs down and customer satisfaction high. Customer satisfaction suffers when a steady stream of inexperienced CSRs handle calls, and the cost of replacing an agent can approach 150 percent of the employee’s annual salary. Other costs associated with attrition take the form […]
The power of routine.
March 28 – Did your Mom ever create one of those charts where you were supposed to do a certain task every day and then check it off when done? My wife and I have used them with our children for various positive behaviors like reading, practicing the piano, or feeding the dogs. As we […]
More than a conference — and getting more AT the conference.
March 28 – “I am going to need the projections for next year by the end of this week.” “Are last month’s adherence scores ready?” “Why do we have 12 people available and 20 calls holding?” “Hey, why is my vacation time not approved?” I distinctly remember these four questions being asked in rapid succession […]