When you hear “call center management,” most people immediately think metrics. While metrics are important, call center management can and should incorporate more. Call center management is all about the role and responsibilities managers handle.
Below are five call center management skills you need to incorporate into your approach:
1. Set Goals
Goals are great motivators, because they give you something to work toward. If you want your employees to see and understand the benefits of setting goals, you need to educate them on department goals and your personal goals. The more transparent you can be for your employees the better.
Once they see the overall goals of the department, your employees can develop their own goals. After independently creating their goals, sit down together and discuss what those goals will accomplish. You want your workers to create the goals, but both of you need to agree on what benefits those actions will bring.
2. Lead by Example
Goals are a great way to constantly make improvements as individuals. If you want your employees to see and understand the benefits, you need to be their role model. Service Quality Central talks about different approaches to goal setting in a call center. Create your own goals and share them with your staff. The more transparent you can be for your employees the better. They need to see you as an employee as well as a boss.
3. Continually Aim to Improve
While goal setting is all about finding areas you can improve upon, you need to develop other ways employees and your department can grow. Offer ongoing training opportunities for your staff. They want to see you are invested in them and you want to see your team constantly learning new skills. Continuous improvement sets the tone for an ever evolving and improving work environment.
4. Make Yourself Available
If you have an extremely busy schedule where you are rarely visible to your workers, figure out a way to make yourself available. Try blocking out a set time where you have “office hours” or where, in the words of management guru, Tom Peters, you “manage by wandering around.” This is a time when you are available for employees to come to you with questions, concerns, etc. You still need to create a visible presence in your department, but these open hours will offer employees extra assistance if needed.
5. Coach When Needed
Remember to offer feedback and praise liberally! If you have constructive criticism to give, either do it in private or away from the employee’s peers. You want your employee to be motivated to make performance improvements, not embarrassed and discouraged by the feedback. If you need reminders to praise, try the practice of putting four quarters in your left pocket each morning. Move one quarter to the right pocket each time you praise someone. The goal is to get all of your quarters to the right pocket by the end of the day.
6. Believe in Your Employees
If you give feedback that requires the employee to make major adjustments in their behavior, be sure to show the employee you believe they can make the change. If you don’t show confidence in your team, they won’t fully be able to commit to the changes you identify.
Take these five call center management skills and incorporate them into your role as a manager. Try adding one at a time to boost your managerial approach. These skills will help keep a balance between monitoring the numbers and monitoring the behavioral performance of your team.
