#contactcenterworld, @nobelbiz

Author: Steven Bederman, President, NobelBiz

Everybody’s talking about agents and how to create a better, more efficient WFH environment for them. And, while that should be a top priority for all contact centers that want to offer pristine future-proof services, supervisors have been overlooked during these months.

In this article we will be looking at how to adapt a supervisor’s workflow to a remote wok environment and how to make sure they fulfil all their duties without keeping a physical keen eye on their agents.

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Office Vs Remote Responsibilities

In an office setting, a supervisor’s list of responsibilities is short and to the point.

• Keep an eye on agents to make sure they’re meeting their quotas.
  
  
• Keep an eye on agents and make sure they offer the best customer support possible.
  
  
• Keep an eye on agents and handle any customer-related issues before they escalate.
  
  
• Keep detailed reports of agent activity and productivity.
  
  
• Fill out performance evaluations.
  
  

It’s pretty obvious what the main responsibility of a call center supervisor is. But how does that translate in a remote setting?

• Monitor agent performance through the company’s method of choice.
  
  
• Supervise agent-customer interactions through the company’s preferred tool.
  
  
• Provide support to agents in difficult interactions – provided the WFH tool used by the company allows a seamless transition.
  
  
• Keep detailed reports of agent activity and productivity.
  
  
• Fill out performance evaluations.
  
  

Suddenly, it all became much more complicated. Supervisors need to juggle different programs, an internal chat where they could remain in constant contact with the team, and fill out accurate monthly performance evaluations.

Finding the Right Balance When Monitoring Your Agents

It’s common knowledge that Contact Centers employ stricter supervision measures than other businesses. It’s a necessity when agents are working directly with customers and the company is serious about keeping a good relationship with their clients. But how do you monitor agent performance while working remote?

While struggling to move their business remote, some companies relaxed monitorization protocols while others adopted drastic measures like VPNs, remote control programs, trackers, and strict reporting procedures. And while keeping a close eye on agents is necessary, how do you find a proper balance?

The answer is you find the right tool. A combination of different options is never the best solution as it makes everybody’s lives harder. From juggling invoices to installing one too many programs on company devices it’s just too much of a hassle. The answer lies in a single program that can serve all purposes.

For example, what we did with NobelBiz’s Omni+, we created a single platform that allows anybody with admin access (from supervisors to middle and upper management) to keep a complete overview on all client interactions over all supported platforms. Multiple agents can handle a single customer and you’d have a detailed history at a click away.

We found that this way you keep technical requirements for agent and supervisor terminals low (thus eliminating the need to upgrade all your equipment) while also offering supervisors a chance to keep a close overview of all activity without intruding in the employee’s personal space with unnecessary tracking that leaks into their private space.

How Does WFH Influence Performance Evaluation?

Without the right tool to measure agent activity and productivity, filling out performance evaluations can become a bothersome task that involves navigating different trackers and systems that take up a lot of the supervisor’s time and could impede the agent’s work (think unannounced Team Viewer inspections which are a thing).

Apart from becoming a cumbersome task for the supervisor, employees could suffer the consequences of inaccurate performance evaluation based more on predictions than actual supervision.

To Sum Up

A Contact Center supervisor’s job could change drastically in a remote environment. Now, the nature of the change depends on the company and the WFH solutions they adopted.

#contactcenterworld, @nobelbiz