Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
How WFM Allows for Better Scheduling
Some people don’t mind doing everyday tasks. For example, a friend once told me she actually enjoyed sitting down once a month to pay her bills. And sometimes keeping it simple is a good thing.
But other times, doing things the old-fashioned and manual way just doesn’t cut it. So, you need to adopt new processes and solutions to become more efficient.
Call center scheduling falls into the second category.
Many organizations and administrators today continue to use spreadsheets for their call center scheduling. In fact, studies suggest at least 20 percent of contact centers use spreadsheets for forecasting and scheduling. But, doing forecasting and scheduling like this is a losing battle.
It’s just plain inefficient. It doesn’t allow you to take into consideration all the factors that you should. It’s a pain to adjust manual schedules when somebody needs to make a change. And it’s just generally a manually-intensive pursuit that takes up time and effort that could more effectively be used elsewhere.
A more efficient way to do call center scheduling is using workforce management software. WFM solutions allow call centers to do forecasting and use that to inform schedules.
WFM can enable more flexible shifts and enable call center workers to input requests for time off. This added flexibility can drive employee engagement and performance. And that’s important, given that staff accounts for 60 to 80 percent of call center budget, so you want to get the most value of out of your human capital.
With WFM, you’ll also be able to turn on a dime and adjust to unexpected absences, demand, and other factors.
To get started with WFM, you’ll need to input your scheduling policies, measure your baseline, and even weigh customer feedback and use that to inform your scheduling.
Edited by Mandi Nowitz