#contactcenterworld, @outcess_ng

So a year on, how would you describe how the pandemic has affected your company and how you work? If you can add some notes about your business to help readers understand what your center and/or company does, please add them here.
The pandemic affected how we work as currently in the office we have to maintain social distancing, and we also had to initiate work from home for over 50 % of our staff

If you operate a contact center how would you describe it today? 100% work from home? Work in a socially distanced center? Hybrid? Share some details
Our contact center now has over 50% work force working from home , those working from the office now work in a socially distance contact center due to the pandemic

When the pandemic hit and if you had to adapt, what went well or better than expected in the change of the way you work?
The setting up and running of the work from home for the contact center staff

Since the start of the pandemic, has call, email, chat traffic increased, decreased or stayed the same? AND, how? Share some details on what you have noticed
The traffic on some contact center channels increased while some stayed the same

Before the virus hit, did you have an emergency plan should something like this happen? If so, did your plans work as expected?
No, we did not have any emergency plans as regards such

In the early days of the pandemic there were lots of ideas how to keep staff now working from home motivated - What activities / things did you do that worked well?
Setting up the work from home for some staff

If you could go back in time and could plan for a pandemic, what would you do differently and why?
I would have purchased more laptops for easy remote work

How often do you meet with your team / colleagues and how? Zoom? Skype? Other? Also, how well does this work for everyone?
We meet weekly via teams, and this has been working well

Have you found colleagues are working harder, about the same as before or maybe a little less and why do you think that? Please explain
They have been working the same

Longer term, do you think you may continue working like you do today, or do you think you will get back to like it was before the pandemic hit us all?
We would be working like this a little bit longer

If the pandemic did not really affect you tell us why - what made it a non event for you?
It affected us

How do you now train staff? How is this method working?
We train staff both virtually and physically

If you had to recruit new staff, how has this worked for you? Is it easier / harder? Please explain
It has been different as we now recruit both physically and virtually

What have you noticed in terms of staff turnover since the pandemic? Any changes? Why do you think there has been a change (if any)
no changes

Do you think your company is now better prepared to deal with a crisis like this or any other crisis (flood, fire, earthquake, hurricane etc) if it happens in the future and if so why?
yes we are better prepared as we can work from home now with no issues

Do you think the company you work for appreciates staff more and shows appreciation more now because of the pandemic, or does it feel like you get the same, or maybe even less appreciation?
we appreciate staff more

If you manage a team - how have you coped with the change ?
I have coped very well

If you are part of a team that worked closely together face to face how do you feel now working in a different way? Maybe more remotely?
I feel good

If you are a manager, how do you help your team if they are struggling with personal issues at home or anxiety about the future?
I engage staff frequently in various ways

Many people were concerned about security of information with remote agents - how have you handled this in your business so its not an issue?
Agents have a secured VPN installed on their systems

Lastly, any other comments or opinions you can share about the effects of this pandemic on your business or the people working in your company?
The pandemic has helped us successfully set up work from home for our staff

#contactcenterworld, @outcess_ng