The Basic Challenges of Running Call Centers Never Seem to Change

I was recently doing some cleaning of my files and came across an article I wrote in December of 2002 that highlighted my 2003 call center management declarations. It’s amazing how the same challenges exist with most of my clients today, and I thought I’d share the article with you:

As we bring this year to a close, many of us will set personal resolutions and goals for 2003.   Even though many times we aren’t able make good on our declarations, they often provide a starting point for changing a behavior or making an improvement.    Just as with personal goals, resolutions can also help us develop new habits at work; below are some ideas to help call center leaders start 2003 moving in the right direction:

I promise that next year I’ll get along with the Telecom department.   Unfortunately, many organizations have so divided the two departments that they begin to operate in ways that do more harm than good. The bottom line is that Operations needs IT just as much as IT needs Operations – the key is to get everyone on the same page and moving in a common direction (e.g., improving the customer experience).    My advice to break the ice is to take the Telecom department out to lunch —  somewhere other than the company cafeteria.   Sounds simple, and is, but it can also prove very effective for setting a foundation for a year of open communication instead of continued frustration.

I promise that next year I’ll clean up my ACD reports.   This is one of those things that we all know needs to be done, but we just never get around to it.    Almost every call center generates way too many reports or provides reports containing nearly useless information.    It’s also common to find managers interpreting and communicating the same report results differently.   The key is to spend time with the entire staff to understand what’s needed to successfully manage the business, and to offer them the training needed to leverage the information provided.  This is actually an easy (and necessary) way to quickly and cheaply improve a department’s operating results.

I promise that next year, I’ll get the staffing I need to be successful.   Believe it or not, staffing a call center comes down to simple math.  Your inputs are the expected workload and agent utilization balanced against your objectives (service levels, response times) to give you the output – the required staffing.   By gaining a better appreciation for the inputs, you’ll be in a much better position to convince others in the organization to support the numbers.   Yes, you do need to spend more time on developing creative ways to articulate the inputs than on the math exercise itself.

I promise that next year I’m going to find more time to invest in my own development.   If you can only pick one thing to tackle, this would be it.   No matter whether you’re in Operations or IT, you have to continually take time to grow as a professional.   As Henry Ford said,  “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80.  Anyone who keeps learning stays young.  The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”   As call center leaders, we no longer have a good excuse for not growing. Over the last few years, the amount of available call center information has grown dramatically and we’re finally making the turn to becoming a recognized (and respected) profession.

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