Category Archives: Workforce Management

Ten Questions to Ask When Choosing Your Call Center Software

Updated May 2020. Setting up a call center is not always straightforward. There is a vast selection of call center reporting software, including hosted or cloud call center solutions and premises-based solutions, and you will need to do a little … Continue reading

Posted in Performance Management, Process Improvement, Workforce Management
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BI: Real-Time or Historical Management Performance Reports?

To paraphrase the words of the late Stephen Covey, the balance is in the ‘AND’ not the ‘OR’. Therefore, when it comes to real-time or historical management, both are definitely crucial for anyone in a leadership role. They each have … Continue reading

Posted in Reporting, Workforce Management
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3 Fundamental Reasons Contact Center Employees Don’t Perform

Many of us have experienced the frustration of not knowing how to get some of our employees to perform according to our expectations. In our hustle and bustle day-to-day bump and grind we may even miss the obvious signs. Here … Continue reading

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Call Center Improvements: How to Set a Service Level Goal

If you have been working in call centers for a while doubtless you have heard it said years ago that the standard goal for service level was 80% calls answered in 20 seconds. Nowadays businesses recognize that you can’t pigeonhole … Continue reading

Posted in Customer Service, Process Improvement, Workforce Management
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Call Center Management: Measuring Contact Handling Times

Everyone knows that to run an efficient call center you focus on the time it takes for agents to handle calls. Everyone is also painstakingly aware of the disadvantages of focusing too much on this indicator. Some experts and some … Continue reading

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Improving Call Center Service Level: Choosing the Right Goal

Managing call centers is a constant balancing act. You know how it is. The delicate balance between customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and shareholder satisfaction is an on-going struggle. Some companies have gone as far as determining that putting their people … Continue reading

Posted in Customer Service, Process Improvement, Reporting, Workforce Management
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Optimum Call Center Service Level Goals: How Low Can You Go?

Successful call centers constantly look for ways to improve every aspect of their business. You focus on the quality, the quantity and the spirit of your service. In other words you know your customers want it good, fast and they … Continue reading

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5 Ideas to Foster a Motivated Call Center Workforce, Part 5

IDEA #5 – Process versus People. Process versus People. This simply means to focus primarily on your processes rather than on your employees when it comes to improving results. I am not suggesting ignoring people’s performance but merely switching the … Continue reading

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5 Ideas to Foster a Motivated Call Center Workforce, Part 4

IDEA #4 Productivity – can’t live with it, can’t live without it. When it comes to productivity measurements within a call center environment, we are all but too familiar with the AHT (average handling time) indicator. Basically, it refers to … Continue reading

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5 Ideas to Foster a Motivated Call Center Workforce, Part 3

“Accountability breeds response-ability.” – Stephen Covey On the previous blog I covered how to set clear expectations and establish effective historical schedule adherence goals. I will now provide a suggestion on how to create accountability within a historical schedule adherence … Continue reading

Posted in Customer Service, Performance Management, Process Improvement, Workforce Management
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