Call center management software provider Knowlagent has put together a punchy list of seven ways to improve your call center coaching, titled "Seven Fundamental Plays from the Coaching All-Star Playbook." With a white paper title like this can the NFL season be far off?

Here are the highlights:

"Ensure it is True Coaching:" What gets called coaching on many teams is really managing without much guidance on improvement. Eighty percent of executives in a study by Knowlagent indicated that they do not believe supervisors have all the right skills for coaching. Because they lack the experience and often the training to do so, supervisors rarely have the skills to coach for improved performance and behavior change.

"Make it Targeted:" By its nature, coaching should be targeted, but it's difficult for supervisors to keep up with all team members' performance and individualized coaching plans.

"See that it is Frequent:" The demands on a supervisor's time are many. And often the lower performing agents take up a disproportionate amount of that time. To meet the needs of all agents, time must be made for both agents and coaches to interact on performance problems as well as enhancement opportunities.

"Make it Actionable:" Unless it is actionable, much of what is called coaching is merely advice, perhaps applicable, perhaps not. Basing coaching on the call flow creates actionable coaching.

"It better be Consistent:" Because most coaching happens on an ad-hoc basis, similarly performing agents can receive very different types and levels of coaching. Nearly 50 percent of supervisors surveyed can not define their coaching process.

"It has to be Measurable:" Even though it is one of the greatest points of leverage with the agent, coaching is largely unmeasured, an anomaly in the call center. By embedding a measurement system that shows how much, who and what is getting coached as well as its link to performance, constant improvement through coaching becomes systemic in the center.

"Require Individual Accountability:" Without a mechanism to take ownership for increasing performance, agents may be left adrift, becoming dissatisfied with the prospects for improvement and/or advancement. There are areas where agents can work independently to improve, and in others, where they may require more hands-on supervisor intervention.

To access a free copy of this informative white paper, click here.