What a difference a month can make. In February, we were looking at topics like growth and development, aligning strategy and technology, and tools for delivering an exceptional customer experience. We’ve now entered the strange new reality of the COVID-19 era. Our Top 5 most-read posts for March reflect the staffing challenges that contact centers have been scrambling to overcome in the past weeks.
For more content to help you navigate the current contact center management landscape, be sure to check out Contact Center Pipeline’s COVID-19 resource page for articles, tips and advice, and visit the website for free resources & offers from the contact center vendor community.
The Top 5 Mistakes Companies Make with Remote Work
Remote work in contact centers has evolved from an alternate staffing strategy to a core employee benefit. In fact, 80% of contact centers today embrace flexible scheduling and remote working for some segment of their population. Based on remote-work consulting and conferences with hundreds of clients, trends that we see in terms of mistakes and key learnings that companies have experienced in the last eight months include the following…
Automation Key to COVID-19 Contact Center Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has put the contact center industry in a manner of disarrayed motion the likes of which have never been seen before. As I write this blog, I’ve had to go back and edit before I could even submit it to the blog site as the U.S. government’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) changed its social isolation recommendation from groups of 50, issued three days ago, to groups of 10 people issued on Monday. This presents a real dilemma for most contact centers. As readers of this blog know, contact centers typically have notoriously tight quarters for workers. Beyond that, equipment is often shared among workers, especially in contact centers that operate multiple shifts in a 24-hour period.
On-Demand Is in Demand: Online Talent Platforms Are Shaping the Future of Work
Say what you will about the gig economy, the concept holds high appeal for contact center agents who crave more control over their schedules. Although recent reports suggest that the size and rate of growth of the gig economy have been overinflated, the growing emphasis on flexibility and better work-life balance indicate that on-demand work will be increasingly in demand in future work environments.
Handling a Severe Staffing Shortfall
Understaffing is a fairly common occurrence in most contact centers, but there may be times when your center experiences a severe staffing shortage. We’re not talking about the run-of-the-mill Monday with high call volume and an even higher number of call-ins. We are talking about a staffing situation where capacity is well below required numbers, and will remain that way for an extended number of weeks into the future. What could cause this?
6 Commonsense Practices to Share with Work-at-Home Agents
After more than 20 years in the on-demand contact center industry, I’ve come across some great work-from-home practices. And a few not-so-good ones, too. Whatever the workstyle or workspace, an agent needs to be efficient and productive. While remote work from home is free range, it isn’t a free-for-all. Routine and discipline are required to get the job done.
