Observations-on-Operations Interactive: Is It All About Leadership?

[Moderator]

Observations-on-Operations Interactive

The Observations-on-Operations Interactive segment is a variation of the regular Observations-on-Operations article found at http://www.callcenterops.com/newsletter.htm.
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Last week, Observations-on-Operations asked what makes good call centers good and bad call centers bad. The overwhelming majority of responses indicate that bad call centers exist because of poor leadership.

Breaking from the planned Observations-on-Operations content, we are asking a follow-on question related to last week's question about good and bad call centers:

If you assume that poor leadership is the primary cause for "bad call centers", how does the problem get resolved? Does poor leadership exist because managers, directors and executive 'just don't care'? If you assume that managers care about leadership, how does one go about becoming a good leader?

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Moderator
CallCenterOps.com

[Alan Clayton]

This is an interesting question as well. No one wants to be a bad leader. But, very few of the people who are in those leadership positions understand how to be an effective leader.

Nearly every person I have ever seen get promoted from within, for instance, has an immediate problem. First, the inevitable ego boost which tends to go to a power trip. Second, the people who werent promoted don't always accept that promotion with the best of graces.

Again, no one WANTS to be a bad leader. They just dont know what it takes to really be effective. Therefore, every leader truly needs a strong manager of their own, as well as, in my opinion, an independent mentor who can help guide them thru the minefields. This mentor can be in the company, but if they are, the conversations they hold with their apprentice must remain totally confidential and cannot be put out for political gain.

Having said all that, there is definitely something to be said for the school of hard knocks.

Anyway, I need to get back to some revenue generating work, and if anyone needs a good call center consultant that can help in a variety of ways or just needs an opinion, you know where to reach me. :)

Regards

[Terrence]

I would suggest that in a call center environment the key human elements including those supervised and those doing the supervising do not exist in a vacuum. Consequently there is no one or two modifications a manager can make that will enable the super manager within to manifest. A good manager has learned from other good managers. A good manager has learned from experience about what works and doesnÂ’t work and why. A good manager is still learning, adjusting and growing. A good manager can be stymied by upper levels of management who have a different agenda or understanding. A really good manager will work around upper levels of management to get the job done. In closing a good manager knows that the people he/she supervises can make or break him. Most of all he/she better figure out how to get them on his side.

[mikael]

I don't think that the problem lies in lack of interest on the part of the managers, I think that it has more to do with a basic lack of appropriate skills and professional development.

Most companies try to promote from within. In a contact center environment, the result of that policy will very likely be a new manager that has extensive company, product and customerbase knowledge. Where they are all too often lacking is in the area of contact center operational management skills.

When I come into a center to do a Review, one of my first questions of the center management team has to do with their cost-per-operational-minute (CPOM) values. I rarely get an answer at all, and even when I do, the data is invariably off. How can you make effective decisions or recommendations to Senior Management regarding purchasing or staffing decisions when you can't back it up with credible dollar values?

When I look at the process/workflow, there are two common points that inevitably are imediately obvious. The first is that the process is undocumented, and the description that the senior center executive will give when asked to define it varies radically from the descriptions given by the directors, managers, supervisors and line reps. It's as if they all were talking about entirely separate and different companies. Worse, while they have some stats to offer, the metrics are all over the map. How can you manage a process that is not tied to something solid? The second is that the organization and deployment of the staff is inefficent, sometimes grossly so.

Granted, as a consultant, I can say things directly to the CEO that might be a bit "politically sub-optimum" for an executive or director to voice. But the same point can be made politely through presentation of effective data -- "If you want X level of service responsiveness, then you must deploy Y resources. Here's the data to back up that requirement statement." Not having that data, or worse, not even knowing what it is or how to get it, is a strong sign of a manager who has not properly developed their professional skill-set.

Example: In a meeting of the C-level executive team of a client, the sales guy said "we used to always answer our phones before the second ring. We've got to get back to that level of service." The CEO looked at me, and I replied: "You can do that, and it will cost you an additional $100K per year in staffing once we get the center optimized, or about $200K extra as it is now. Is that boost in responsiveness worth the money to you?" I had the data to back up my statement. The contact center Director, who was present, could only look like a deer in the headlights. Had I remained silent, it's very likely that the CEO would have turned to the director and said "Start answering the phones before the 2nd ring."

While I can certainly understand that a center manager, particularly a new one, might be so busy fighting fires that they don't have the time to develop a full dataset themselves, they still need to at least know what they are lacking in that regard. I shouldn't get blank looks when I ask questions about basic operational concepts.

[Terrence]

Regarding Cost per operational Minute
I always get a chill up my spine when I hear that term used. I uderstand the meaning and need, but it always makes me think that the call center is seen as a cost center which is imprecise. When I use the term I always try to pair it with revenue per (either time frame or agent) to give the higher ups what I think is a more complete view of the call center. Hmm maybe that's what I have been doing wrong, advocating the call center as a plus to the business rather than a cost. It is axiomatic that you can control only 2 of these 3 things- Dollars spent, Quality of Service, Size of the operation.

[TOTAL Marketing One]

75% of the business is leadership. The other 25% falls into infrastructure and 'business rules'

It is all about leadership. In order to become a call center leader one must be genuine, take care of their people, expect success, focus on enviroment, be consistent, care, etc...MOST importantly, one must be a VISIONARY leader.

In order to be a visionary leader takes style, and carisma that cannot be taught. What can be taught though, is for call center leaders to take care of their people, set goals, GIVE RECOGNITION, create recongnition programs and create a great enviroment where people compete, and have fun.

Then people want to come into work the next day, and produce.

[Alan Clayton]

Most CSR's who report loving their work love it because they have a great boss. That same CSR, in the same company can come to hate their jobs if their immediate supervisor gets moved and a replacement comes in who can't do the job.

It is the immediate supervisor that most people interact with the most, and that is the person who can really impact the lives of the staff the most. Do it well, and life is good. Do it poorly, and you are asking for huge turnover.

And turnover is the bane of existence for most call centers, but remember too, in my book, there are two types of turnover. Good turnover and bad turnover. Good turnover is that person you WANTED to get rid of for one reason or another. Bad turnover is where a good performer left because of something avoidable or something negative in the center.

[KarRagavan]

It was great to read the various valuable discussions from key call centre players. When we attribute 75% of a Call Centre's success or failure to its Leadership, we need to discuss abt the making of a Good Leader. Right from a Team Lead's role till the role of an Operations Manager, everybody contributes to this. How do you think an normal TL can be shaped to be a Good LEADER. How do we handle the mental agony and the stress which the frontline agents feel in a technical support centre?

[Karsten Fuhrmann]

Hi KarRagavan,

the bad news first: you can't BUILD a good leader. Fact is, you can't put something into someone's head. It sounds strange, but you have to be "born" to be a good leader. Look at this: not everyone is born to sell.

What you can learn are certain techniques, but if it's not in you, you'll never be a good leader.

So the secret is not about training - it's simply about hiring the right people.

[RC43]

Great question

Here are some ideas:

Managers must change their perspective: From "I" to "US".
Achieving success involves every department and at every level.

Good managers must focus on the whole team, department and or site by fostering "Collaboration".

Empower your agents to become problem solvers.(Note: Assess the level of maturity within your staff).
Involve your frontline agents in your programs - instead of forcing your view of the program on the agents- the manager will get a higher return and buy in.

Share information in a timely manner and in the appropriate media.
- Pre-shift and post shift meetings. (Excellent investment) for daily changes.
- QI meetings for process and system, forecasting and others.
You will earn high returns in the long run.
Get commitments of support and inform staff of changes.
Note: An effective agenda and measurable goals must be established and time managed.

If you are already having these types of meetings and still are not achieving the intent - there are other issues that need to be address.

Set goals at group level, and then reward at individual level (Note: recognition at group level and reward individuals base on his/her contribution) minimizes de-motivation and stress - win/win situation.

Remember: Seek first to understand...then to be understood

[RC43]

Hello Karthik Ragavan,

The notion that leaders are born is......well you can add your own adjective.

Understanding leadership traits and when to employ them is the challenge for many leaders.

In a TS environment the key to reducing stress is confidence - more distinctly subject knowledge. You and your team should collaborate to identify critical issues, develop solutions, which will reduce the AHT. It is important to categorize the call types and then train to handle those types of calls more efficiently.

It is vital to document your problem solving process but also to empower your team to offer solutions. This will not happen over night if you currently do not have a collaborating culture. But stay with... it like building a solid relationship...you must have tenacity.

Roll playing and situational exercises are good approches to build situation awareness and fine tune processes. Additionally, a flow chart of your processes may reveal important insights.

I hope this helps.
Let me know how it comes out.

P.S. Everyone has leadership attributes...but many do not understand or want to use them.