Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
The Value of Long-Term Forecasting & Scheduling in the Call Center
By forecasting schedules up to 18 months in advance, call center managers can avoid some of the headaches, downtime and productivity losses associated with erratic and inadequate scheduling. According to research from The Taylor Group, a consulting firm offering assessment, planning and implementation services designed to streamline call center scheduling and management, a long-term approach to forecasting can offer major benefits in the way of operational productivity, efficiency and better quality of life for call center employees.
Of course, a long-term approach to call center scheduling requires input from a number of departments and sources, including sales, marketing and operations. Managers will also need to input data on call volume and agent work history to make this type of plan effective. And to be clear, this type of schedule does not replace a short-term staff schedule, which generally forecasts worker shifts from one to five weeks out. Rather, long-term forecasting and scheduling can supplement day-to-day and week-to-week planning, providing managers with a much larger picture of how a call center is operating and the changes that could be made to streamline and improve operations.
A long-term call center forecast and schedule will take into consideration a number of variables and trends, all designed to get a better idea of how well things are operating and pinpoint areas for improvement. Variables may include the volume by period and transaction type over the past year to 18 months. This information should reveal seasonal variations and trends as well as absence rates and scheduled vacations. It should also include special events and sales and marketing programs that could potentially impact workloads and call volumes.
Sales data can also prove invaluable for long-term forecasting, and obtaining a sales run rate for the previous year to 18 months, along with the plan for the next year, can reveal important information. Historical data should be matched against call rates during the same time period, which will pinpoint trends for specific campaigns and programs and enable better planning for future sales and marketing initiatives.
Training for new staff as well as ongoing coaching for existing staff should also be taken into consideration, along with the overall turnover rate at the call center. And forecasting and budgeting for special projects can provide agents with important training and incentives designed to help them perform better, boost morale, and ensure they are happy and challenged and more likely to remain at the call center.
Once these variables have been tracked and measured, a staff full time equivalent (FTE) requirement may be calculated. This will dictate the total number of staff and seats needed for peak efficiency during specific time periods over the coming 12 to 18 months. And these numbers can be tweaked to meet target service requirements and other metrics surrounding productivity, efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Short-term scheduling is still an important part of call center operations, providing staff with a clear idea of work and pay expectations over a period of a couple of weeks to a month. But long-term forecasting can be just as important, if not more so, to the overall operations of a call center. An approach that implements the two is ideal for optimal call center management and operations.
Edited by Maurice Nagle