2021 Tip of the Week Archive

January 10 – 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 […]

November 15 – Does anyone remember March 2020? It seems like a very long time ago, but just yesterday. The world was different, work was different, and CX was a completely different game. Since then, so much has happened in the world and in our collective lives. The days have been long but the months […]

November 8 – Someone once told me “That if Batman had a Career it would be in WFM.” When you think about it that’s not too far off. Batman doesn’t have superpower, but can save the entire Justice League. Batman can lose all his equipment and get out of most situations through planning, with cunning, […]

October 25 – In most contact centers today, frontline staff handle interactions in multiple media.  Nearly all centers handle phone calls but many also work with chats, emails, social media platforms and perhaps even white mail and/or faxes. If your frontline staff are handling more than one media, it is important to measure how effectively […]

October 18 – Often there is a feeling from some employees that “I am an underling and we only work to make the corporation rich.”   This is not helpful in trying to build a solid basis for working successfully.   We should all work to help everyone understand that the structure of an organization is the […]

October 11 – There are many costs associated with call center staff turnover.  Some of these are direct, measurable costs to your organization, while others are indirect costs that may not be so obvious. Some of the direct costs associated with turnover include the following: Recruiting costs Hiring costs Training costs Supervision costs Unproductive paid […]

October 4 – All too often the Workforce Management team can be viewed as Big Brother watching over the agents and supervisors. That is not a good reputation to have and does not foster an environment where you can work together to achieve success for your center. Here are some ideas to help your team […]

September 27 – If you talk with someone from the contact center space, eventually FMLA is going to come up, and if that person works in WFM, it will likely come up in the first five minutes! Many of us in WFM struggle with FMLA because we see it as unplanned shrinkage. We see the […]

September 20 – A few weeks ago, an SWPP tip was to create process playbooks for the organization. In the last four years, I’ve created and governed 12 playbooks for Workforce Management and assisted cross-functionally to help create them for other organizations. This involves partnering with our Business Process Management Team for a complete mapping of […]

September 13 – All too often we assume that our teams are in our heads and know exactly how well they are doing. “Well obviously, Jimmy knows he’s doing amazing because that project was such a success.” Is it obvious though? He may know that it was a success, but why was it successful and […]

September 6 – Do your agents understand the scheduling process that the WFM team uses? Your WFM team needs to be able to explain this process from start to finish.  There can be many questions along the way, including things like:  How are the number of agents for each shift determined?  Why are schedules different […]

August 30 – Too often, we rely on “tribal knowledge” and on-the-job training, especially in the world of WFM. Consider workshopping with your teams and developing a procedural manual. A great place to start is having a large team meeting and getting everybody’s individual input on what they do, how they contribute, and where they believe the […]