With the scramble to move agents home in the past year, the results are in: remote contact centers can operate well, even thrive, in an at-home workforce environment.
Working remotely, agents are still able to provide an exceptional customer experience, but from the comfort of their homes. With increased agent productivity, freedom to hire the best candidates regardless of physical location, and the ability to accommodate COVID-19 concerns, the benefits of a permanent work from home contact center are tough to ignore.
Even before the pandemic, communication technologies and customer service call centers have worked through constant change. Adaptability is key in this dynamic environment and the best way to prepare for the future is to look back at what we’ve learned throughout the past year.
Here are a few topics we worked to troubleshoot in the midst of a mass transition to a remote workforce:
- Real-world experiences (all the nuts and bolts) of establishing at-home operations
- New ways to keep contact center agents productive and engaged in a virtual environment
- Technology that enhances training, production, and engagement even when agents are away from the office
- Various challenges experienced by at-home agents and how the day plays out for them
- How the move to home offices can impact teams and management
Manage Performance Remotely and in Real-Time
Working from home demands innovative and creative ways to keep your teams engaged. Those spontaneous meetings with one or multiple members of your team aren’t as accessible in a work-from-home dynamic, so scheduling meetings in advance is critical. To combat the lack of in-person interactions, additional strategies need to be implemented.
Without physically seeing if seats are empty or if anyone was absent from the morning huddle, it’s tremendously valuable to add a tool for monitoring agent adherence in real-time. An effective Workforce Management solution delivers an accurate view of your team’s adherence to ensure that customer demands are met, as well as service level objectives. Features like accurate forecasting and real-time adherence help you efficiently schedule your team for production, meetings, training, and coaching sessions.
In addition to Workforce Management, a strong Workforce Optimization solution provides your organization the structure needed to consistently assess and improve contact center performance, despite the lack of in-person communication and coaching.
Other processes that may help your workflow are:
- Checking in frequently with your team to offer assistance and encouragement
- Implementing games and a few contests to engage agents and motivate them to meet individual, team and contact center goals
- Increasing consistent coaching, at the very time it’s needed, by using eCoaching and eLearning tools
Increase Check-In Frequency & Stay Connected With Your Team
With the lack of in-person interactions, a remote workforce needs intentional, thoughtful communication. Being present for your team is even more critical when they can no longer drop by your office when needing your insight or guidance. A simple message to an employee asking how their day is going, or how you can help them, can make a significant impact.
Danielle Durham, Director of Teleservices at Arizona Federal Credit Union, said those daily messages opened the opportunity for individual agents to talk through anything that they were experiencing, like items they may have forgotten by the time formal check-ins came around. Durham added, “We also check in by phone every single day. It’s important for the team to see that connection.”
Some practices to help your team stay connected are:
- Hosting a team meeting every week for an hour or two depending on how many topics need to be covered; adding a little team camaraderie can provide great rewards
- Consult your team, if possible, when making decisions to engage them in troubleshooting customer needs or team matters
Setting Up a Solid Technology Infrastructure & Workforce
Before the pandemic, the idea of agents working from home was a bit scarce. Now, many companies are contemplating making a permanent switch.
While considering how the change will affect your agents and customers, success depends heavily on the technology infrastructure you have in place. Using just any system or software could adversely affect your contact center’s budget, its reputation, and negatively impact the customer experience.
With DVSAnalytics, you can optimize your contact center while virtually managing your entire employee base using data driven insights to improve performance, manage costs, and deliver an exceptional customer experience.
Let’s Continue the Conversation
In a webinar hosted by DVSAnalytics with Arizona Federal Credit Union, you’ll find tips on:
- Transitioning to Work From Home: On-Premise or Cloud
- Training, eCoaching, and eLearning
- Forecasting, Scheduling & Real-Time Adherence
This on-demand webinar explores the real-world experiences of Arizona Federal Credit Union’s contact center and how they quickly transitioned to work from home operations, including some of the surprises they encountered in the process, and the solutions they’re using to keep agents trained, engaged, and productive.
View the webinar to learn more about keeping your at-home workforce productive and engaged.
Workforce Optimization Solutions for Contact Centers
To learn more about Workforce Management and Workforce Optimization solutions for your contact center, schedule a quick demo with DVSAnalytics.
