This paper suggests that we generally underestimate the complexity of the call centre role within organisations. Superficially call centres are about people taking phone calls and answering questions. The simplicity of that activity, and our familiarity with it as one of the generally less complex (but often irritating) tasks we undertake in our day's work has the unfortunate effect of obscuring the real issues and complexities in the operation of call centres.
Every manager who has ever answered a phone or a question believes that they are qualified to have a view about what it would be like to 'do that all day long', and the view is invariably that it will be an 'unpleasant task'. That prejudice is evident in the emphasis these managers put on COUNTER-balancing the unpleasantness by creating a pleasant environment for call centre staff, or a promise of rotation 'out', or (even) built in morale and psychological management.
This emphasis on these interventions to support call centre staff does no harm in itself, a pleasant working environment is always pleasant, and rotation 'out' can be simply read as 'career encouragement'. The danger is in this. After providing the most efficient technology, the assumption is that any shortfall in performance is due problems with staff morale. And morale (and technology) can be 'tinkered with' endlessly (and at considerable expense). What is missed in all of this is that call centres are not just about technology and people, but also about relationships and knowledge.
I am talking about relationships and knowledge in the broadest sense, that is the relationships between organisations and elements within organisations, and in the knowledge of the 'interests' and 'prejudices' of those organisations and elements, and in the knowledge of the forces that work on them. This is not - as you can see - just a matter of the single over-the-phone relationship, or the knowledge required to resolve a particular question - although these are also part (a small but significant part) of that 'broad' sense.
I would argue that an understanding of these relationships and knowledge issues is fundamental to an understanding of call centres, and in fact points the way forward for transforming an underperforming call centre. To illustrate the 'power' of these factors consider a scenario where your knowledge of the group that was calling into the call centre was such that you could anticipate what they would be calling about next week and do something to prevent them needing to call. Which also illustrates how a call centre's performance should be measured on the basis of how 'few' calls they handle, rather than how 'many'.
Let me add one other consideration before moving on (an upcoming post) to a discussion on how to use an understanding of relationships and knowledge issues to better design and manage call centres. And that is that call centres evolve - that's to say they are subject to influences both internal and external that can drive them in directions that you did not intend. Which is to say that even managers of successful call centres need to keep a watchful eye on more than just their staff.
Comments