You would be hard pressed to find someone in WFM that would say strong communication skills are NOT a necessary skill to have. It’s unfortunately though not an easy skill to help someone develop; simply telling someone to “communicate better” will often not be helpful to someone who is struggling or looking to improve their communication skills.
A good rule of thumb when communicating with other departments such as operations or HR, stating needs as “this is how many agents/employees are needed” whenever possible will often be most intuitive for non-WFM departments. Always avoid using vague descriptions such as “you need a few more agents,” or “we could offer some overtime.”
It’s also very important that whenever you make a recommendation regarding any sort of change to staffing that you document the recommendation where it’s visible to both you and to the recipient of the recommendation. I find a quick email including exact headcount recommendation is the easiest way to do this. When people are relying on their memory it’s very easy to miss an important detail. This will also help keep a solid timeline of the recommendation intact; if for any reason you must revisit your recommendation you will be able to see exactly what was recommended in writing, as well as when it was recommended.
A plan communicated clearly and precisely will keep confusion to a minimum and help ensure the plan is clear to everyone.
Note: This week’s tip is provided by Bruce Amey, CWPP, of Splunk. He may be reached at bamey@live.com.
