Contact Center Management: How to Develop an Effective Team

s obvi­ous when a team or depart­ment is func­tion­ing well. Employ­ees are happy and enthu­si­as­tic about their work. They dis­play a can-do atti­tude when chal­lenged and take pride in the suc­cess of the com­pany. The oppo­site is also very clear. When a team or depart­ment is not per­form­ing well employ­ees are reluc­tant to share resources, are apa­thetic about their work, and have trou­ble reach­ing shared goals. Cus­tomer ser­vice train­ing has been proven to increase team effec­tive­ness by pro­mot­ing the impor­tance of inter­nal cus­tomer ser­vice and team work.

Improve Inter­nal Cus­tomer Ser­vice Skills with Cus­tomer Ser­vice Training

The foun­da­tion of good cus­tomer ser­vice is effec­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills. A suc­cess­ful cen­ter must have employ­ees who com­mu­ni­cate with cus­tomers, inter­nal and exter­nal, in an effec­tive and con­sis­tent man­ner. An indi­vid­ual with effec­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills can inspire and influ­ence other team mem­bers to achieve desired out­comes. Cus­tomer ser­vice train­ing for call cen­ter employ­ees ensures team mem­bers com­mu­ni­cate effec­tively with each other, and with cus­tomers. When all employ­ees are speak­ing the same ser­vice lan­guage, indi­vid­ual employee per­for­mance and over­all cen­ter per­for­mance will improve.

Cre­ate a Team Envi­ron­ment with Cus­tomer Ser­vice Training

After down­siz­ing, or a com­pany merger, it is com­mon for employ­ees to feel unset­tled. Take this oppor­tu­nity to reju­ve­nate employ­ees and invest in their suc­cess with addi­tional train­ing. Select­ing a cus­tomer ser­vice train­ing pro­gram that empha­sizes inter­nal cus­tomer ser­vice will be ben­e­fi­cial in cre­at­ing a team envi­ron­ment. Being an effec­tive team mem­ber is the result of feel­ing part of some­thing larger. Once an employee under­stands that his or her efforts truly make a dif­fer­ence enthu­si­asm for com­mon goals will increase, as will a bet­ter under­stand­ing of depart­ment pri­or­i­ties and responsibilities.

Set Real­is­tic Goals

Increase your team’s effec­tive­ness by using the fol­low­ing per­for­mance motivators:

1. Cre­ate a real­is­tic chal­lenge. To moti­vate and encour­age per­for­mance increases in a team it is impor­tant to set chal­leng­ing goals. It is just as impor­tant for employ­ees to under­stand the ben­e­fits of attain­ing the goals, and in what time frame. Use visual reminders and cel­e­brate small mile­stones to keep employ­ees on pace and engaged.
2. Be account­able for the results. Noth­ing builds rap­port bet­ter than show­ing that your suc­cess is directly tied to indi­vid­ual employee and team suc­cess. Reg­u­larly engage with employ­ees and relay how team goals fit into the long term suc­cess of the center.
3. Solicit sup­port from upper man­age­ment. Employ­ees who have pos­i­tive inter­ac­tions with upper man­age­ment feel included in the company’s vision and work harder to achieve mutual suc­cesses. When set­ting goals for your team request, feed­back from upper man­age­ment so they can be aware and involved in your teams success.

Cus­tomer ser­vice skills train­ing is an impor­tant step in devel­op­ing an effec­tive team. Once your team has a solid skill foun­da­tion it will be eas­ier for you to focus on the specifics of your prod­uct or ser­vice offer­ing, and max­i­mize knowl­edge shar­ing with the skills cov­ered in training.