Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
Call Center Management Can Benefit From Best Practices for Scheduling
The call center is nothing if not dynamic and managers in this space are challenged to produce an effective environment in which all agents perform as expected. Achieving all points is easier said than done, however, and call center management must often look to robust tools to assist in the process.
This recent Monet Software blog captured the importance of best practices employed by call center management when it comes to call center forecasting and scheduling. In fact, a survey conducted by DMG in 2010 found that call center managers rate specific tasks as their top call center workforce management challenges.
These tasks include the need to schedule both phone and non-phone activity; the need to optimize the mix of full-time, part-time and flex-time workers; poor agent adherence; and the need to schedule multiple channels, such as phone, e-mail, chat and more. The good news is that call center management throughout the industry have already discovered best practices to ease the process.
In this Monet Software blog, the writer highlighted that while a schedule driven only by forecast and basic agent requirements as determined by call center management may work, it won’t help to boost performance or productivity. The development of the forecast and schedule needs to include agent needs, as well as breaks, multiple skill sets, training, time-off and a realistic buffer for shrinkage. Consider categorizing all activities according to your unique environment.
Another blog by the same company focused on the scheduling of workers according to different shifts. The recommendation for call center management is to layer the different shift types and associated resources so that the schedule can be optimized. This approach helps to better account for those part-time versus full-time agents while still achieving the same high performance and productivity goals.
A piece centered on six simple strategies to empower call center management to optimize their scheduling practices highlighted a recent Monet Software webcast. The topics of this webcast included quantifying the cost and service implications of missing staff; learning about the options for setting adherence performance goals; identifying the reasons why staff do not adhere to the schedule plan; how to develop reward and consequence programs to support adherence goals; and how to effectively measure, monitor and track adherence.
Finally, call center management can take advantage of how to forecast and schedule for multiple channels. Monet Software recommends that forecasts and schedules be based on response time and the urgency associated with various channels; a forecasting schedule based on transaction history; a fully blended schedule; or banded work where schedule time blocks are based on agent availability.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Chris DiMarco