2016 Tip of the Week Archive2018-05-09T13:31:10-04:00

Back Office Support without a Back End System.

March 14 – Does your Workforce Management Team support a business unit with back office functions, but there is no back end system?  Thinking outside of the box is a must in order to successfully support and manage a business unit with back office functions effectively without a back end system. Here are some tips […]

Consider the impact of events on your forecast over time.

March 7 – As you look at the impact of events on your call forecast, consider not just the immediate result, but how various events play out over time.  For each business factor it’s important to judge what type of effect the event will have as well as its longevity. A Step Response is one […]

Use “adjusted adherence” as a metric for outsource partners.

February 29 – My company utilizes vendors/outsource partners for call center agents due to the seasonality of our business. However, we manage our ACD and WFM. This allows us to diversify risk from adherence to recruiting by spreading it out to multiple locations and multiple vendors. We hold those vendors accountable through a metric we […]

Network and share best practice with other WFM professionals.

February 22 – Sharing best practice regarding the use of your WFM can be extremely useful and insightful.  Many companies hold user forums and seminars allowing users to meet and network with other businesses that use the same system.  However, don’t limit this to just users of the same WFM. We have found that many […]

What is absenteeism?

February 15 –   Practically, absenteeism is just opposite of being present. In the literal meaning, if you are not present at work then you are absent, just like two sides of a coin are either heads or tails. There are some general concepts that will help to make absenteeism easier to understand and consider in […]

Create a visual view of service level.

February 8 –   I create a color-coded chart to highlight any common time frames where service level goals are missed or exceeded to create a visual view of service level, and then use the chart for discussions with management. By using a simple conditional rule in an Excel spreadsheet, I can easily track where we […]

Use flexible staffing to shore up high volume times.

February 1 –   When expecting days or intervals of higher than normal volume it can be difficult to find time slots to pull staffing from without simply shifting the pain to the time/day you pull from – or passing the buck as it were. One way in which we’ve approached this is through pulling staff […]

Coordinating with Marketing to prepare for additional call volume.

January 25 –   In planning your staffing outlook in your contact centers, it’s important to be aware of upcoming events that could drive additional volume or extended handle time. For this reason it’s important to have a liaison between the WFM team and the marketing department who receives marketing initiative details, such as emails/mailers and […]

Tips for optimizing breaks.

January 18 –  Going from fixed breaks to flexible is often a difficult transition for agents. Here are some tips for setting up some rules around flexible breaks. Determine a reasonable window of time in which the first break, lunch and second break can be scheduled. A sample window for an 8-hour shift is as […]

Track Service Level Issues with a “Missed Service Level” report.

January 11 –   Missing Service Level goals can sometimes leave you scratching your head and wondering why.  Not to mention that when you come up short, senior management usually demands an explanation of what went wrong. A very simple practice may help you be better prepared to answer senior management’s questions and help you identify […]

Add flexibility to your call center.

January 4 –   The ability to adjust to ever changing call volumes, call arrival patterns, and seasonality is key to meeting service level/ASA objectives. It is difficult to meet targets without some degree of flexibility in your schedule generation process. One way to introduce flexibility to your call center is to recruit new hires that […]

Go to Top