When I worked in contact centers, people would ask what I did for a living, and I would say Workforce Management. I was usually met with a blank look. I would explain that it means creating schedules, but it’s so much more. While workforce management on the whole can sound boring, high-tech, and at times…
Maximizing workforce management efficiency through real-time data is an often-overlooked advantage for contact centers. With real-time information, you can make crucial intraday adjustments that improve your efficiency and your customer experience. There are several roles within the workforce management space, and each one is important in its own way. Making sure you fill these key…
During my career in workforce management, call avoidance was always an issue — regardless of the location of the business, the nature of the business, or the location of the agent. Call avoidance, now known as interaction avoidance, denotes the steps an agent takes to avoid handling a customer interaction. It can take time and…
When it comes to call avoidance (or, more accurately these days, interaction avoidance), you usually know it when you see it. Unless you don’t. It’s easier than you think to misjudge an agent in an interaction, so I’ve assembled examples of interaction avoidance along with actions you should take when it occurs. We’ll also look…
Call avoidance is a common issue in contact centers and must be dealt with to ensure a positive experience for your customers. But agents can quickly become frustrated and overwhelmed when dealing with irate customers and high contact volumes, leading them to avoid interactions. While the issue is not unusual, it’s easier to manage if…
“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” – Robert Burns As a contact center leader, you’ve done the work to create a stellar workforce management plan. You have all the “rights” in place – the right people, the right channels, at the right time with the right forecast, and the right schedule…
During my time as a workforce management (WFM) professional, I have implemented WFM systems into several departments within multiple companies. These implementations were either with a department or company that did not have a previous WFM system or they had one but were not using it to its potential. In some instances, the workforce management…
Try a quick web search, and you’ll find pages of content answering the question, “What is WFM?” But while many of the articles (and graphics and videos) provide some answers, they’re usually packed with industry jargon unfamiliar to most people. So, rather than help, all that information often leads to further confusion and misconceptions about…
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Wednesday, April 17, 2024 at 11:00 AM EDT