WORKSPACE CONFIGURATION
Contact Center Design Dilemmas
Remodeling an existing space: Contact centers are arguably the most daunting environment to pull together, involving a combination of challenges found nowhere else.
Among them:
They’re high density; dramatically compressing the ratio of square footage per employee, which affects everything from parking to acoustics to washrooms.
They’re stressful; employing workers who could benefit from a little environmental stimulation, not easy to provide when the starting point may be hundreds of people in a huge room with no interior walls.
They’re technically complex; requiring sophisticated computer and communications systems and the ability to adapt quickly when something even more sophisticated comes out.
They’re hard to pin down; often required to adjust staffing levels, to provide shared workstations among multiple shifts, and to maintain a tricky balance between privacy and collaboration.
Creating a productive, cost effective and inviting environment is challenging but not impossible.
Invest in Design
Not all of us are born with the decoration gene! When it comes to the contact center design it is much more than painting the north wall a bold color.
The Design Process:
-Size of the work space; does it include, shelving, secure storage, any privacy?
-Does the furniture in and around the contact center include conference rooms, lunch and break areas?
-What is lighting design?
-How is noise controlled?
-How do you manage your center image and sense of community?
Creating the ideal productive workspace requires the coordination of a decoration genie! Find a commercial interior designer who really understands the unique nature of contact centers.
You will experience first hand, satisfied employees make for satisfied customers. Workplace design does have significant influence over key business performance metrics. New sites have the opportunity to start with a clean slate, in this case an empty room. Make it a place everyone wants to work.
21st Century Workspace Configuration
Industry Content Supporter:
Stephen Paskel
VP, Senior Technology & Global Operations Manager
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-paskel
Workspace is linked to the culture. Design the agent’s workspace to support and express the elements needed for change.
The trend today is to move desks into clusters of teams, moving away from the rows of “ice cubes”. Team based clusters can have any configuration that fits your business. It depends on the workspace, technology, role of the team, etc. More free-flowing path like layouts inspired by nature are replacing the rows of cubes.
Clusters help agents feel less like a number and more like a player. Agent’s feel they belong to an important group, making side-by-sides and cross-pollination of veteran agents and rookie agents easier. Team members are more willing to share best practices for the good of the team.
With computers comes eyestrain caused by improper lighting. Lighting is more important than site developers and planners realize. Managing light is the art and science of a lightening expert. In most contact centers lights are beaming straight down from the ceiling creating computer monitor glare. Perhaps adjusting the bounce from shining straight down to beaming light up, creates softer and more productive lighting.
Noise is another factor; Noise in the contact center is stress producing, impacts productivity and is annoying to callers. High-volume sites look for ways to manage the noise. Examples, ceiling tiles, carpet, wall covering, even plants are noise reducing. Is it possible to create a peaceful contact center? Look around, ask agents what kind of noise is irritating and where is the distracting noise coming from? The solution is to fix it and fix it fast!
Why Bother?
The contact center is often overlooked for spending any time, money and attention to how it looks and feels because many times customers are not allowed at contact centers. Sales people don’t meet clients at the contact center. As a result, companies typically don’t invest in the appearance yet the people who work there care a great deal since they spend hours in the contact center.
Here are some things to consider:
The better agents are treated, the better they’ll treat customers. Put agents in a pleasant environment with comfortable furnishings and they’re more likely to maintain a patient, friendly attitude than if their workplace is hot, cramped, and depressing.
Create a showcase for the corporate image; corporate tours tend to wind through the contact center as contact centers become central to business strategy. Make it look and feel great. Make it something to be proud of.
Value your agents; by investing in contact center design, furnishing, and functionality. Companies send a clear message to agents about how there work is valued by the environment they provide.
Keeping agents comfortable and content; Agents spend a lot of time tethered to their desks. Creating an environment and atmosphere that keeps agents comfortable and content will parlay into each call an agent takes. Making customers content too versus agents venting frustrations and dumping inappropriate comments on callers. Comfort is also psychological since workers like to have control over their space such as temperature control, decorations, optional standing desk and lighting choices. The agents’ ability to adjust the environment to their style and job requirements does promotes higher productivity and job satisfaction. Workers who are constantly distracted by making themselves comfortable are far less productive.
Contact Centers are tough places to work; high-pressure environments, repetitive tasks and conversations, negative issue resolutions all while keeping your cool. Performance is strictly monitored; every keystroke and phone call is monitored.
Ergonomic furniture; They sit for hours on end, often in a high-pressure environment, making them prime candidates for aching backs, necks, and wrists. Aches and pains, in turn, can lead to absenteeism and costly injuries. The more agents’ sit, the better their chair should be. Spend the money on the chair and get all the adjustments and options Keyboard, trays, monitors is another source of comfort. Do agents currently share workstations, or will they in the future? The more sharing that goes on the more adjustments you will need.
INDUSTRY SERVICE TIPS
1. How work gets done is changing and it is pushing open floor plans to replace segregating cubes; cafes replace boring break rooms and perimeter offices are disappearing creating flexibility, mobility and community.
2. Use color, not just any color but colors that impact productivity like blue. Blue is a stable and calming color and is proven to help workers focus on their tasks.
NEXT STEPS
Reduce workman’s comp, absenteeism, turnover and injuries by investing in ergonomic furniture and implementing an ergonomic training program.
Showing agents how to be more comfortable at the workstation while agents stare at monitors, sit all day, and deal with challenging customers will reduce the muscle tension; eye strain, headaches and a host of other injuries and illness that come from poor functioning workstations.
Happy, comfortable agents make for productive agents!
Contact Center Platforms
While the contact center platform for the most part is transparent to agents, they feel the consequences of obsolete tools.
Many contact centers use office phone systems that run on “hunt groups” instead of a true ACD (Automatic Call Distributor). When hunt groups get overloaded with too many calls, agents take the heat by way of excessive abandoned calls—unable to meet service levels and long hold times—all creating a stressful environment and making agents uncomfortable. Proper contact center technology impacts the ease of which agents do their job. It’s already a difficult job, let’s make it manageable with the proper tools.
The contact center platform is a major application decision. Today, with best-in-class contact center technology it’s easy for agents to login to soft phones, select the queue to be worked, monitor personal metrics, communicate with the floor supervisor and provide the customer an exquisite experience utilizing built-in scripts, screen pops (CTI), custom forms, and API’s out to other heavily used applications. Investing in a comprehensive contact center platform will make your contact center exceptionally productive while making your agents more comfortable.
Agent Computers
How old are the computers?
Don’t expect agents to perform with outdated computers. Today people upgrade smart phones every 18 months just to get one new feature. Users today expect current state-of-the art technology. Current tools are motivating; agents get creative by looking for ways to use the technology to make themselves more efficient and effective.
21st Century Furniture
When agents are not comfortable at their workstations, unproductivity takes over as agents spend their day trying to get comfortable.
Chairs, keyboards and monitors, desk height, lighting or lack of lighting, and room temperature all impact the agent’s focus. Any one of these can take an agent off their game. Providing ergonomic furniture will reduce the distractions as well as the absenteeism, injuries, worker’s comp and turnover. Agent comfort is tied to furniture and agent equipment. Don’t go cheap.
Agent Headsets
Agents care about comfort since they’re wearing headsets most of their day.
Headsets that are uncomfortable in any way are a distraction to the agent. Headsets that are broken in any way should be replaced. It should be fully functioning so that the headset isn’t even noticed by the agent. What makes a headset comfortable? What is physically comfortable to one agent may not be to the next. Some like two ear cushions and others like one. There are so many makes/models. This is an opportunity to show how you value agents by offering agents a choice of 2-3 different types.
All headsets should include microphone noise cancellation at a minimum. This benefits the callers and allows customers to hear agents more clearly. Go the extra mile and get head sets that also eliminate ambient noise for the agent. When agents and customers are not asking “Can you hear me ok?” every two minutes, then you know you have a satisfied customers and agents.
A couple more things to consider:
First, the connection to the computer. The best audio quality is a 3.5m jack, not a USB connector. While USB’s may appear more convenient they are not as stable as the traditional jack.
Secondly, for agents that are sitting close to one another, having a built-in microphone will reduce the background noise and thereby make the caller’s experience a higher quality experience.
INDUSTRY SERVICE TIPS
1. For the best audio quality for both the agent and caller, choose headsets carefully; skip the wireless headsets as they run out of battery before the agent’s shift is over and wireless signals are disrupted—especially when too many agents are packed into a tight environment.
2. Avoid USB connector type headsets and look for headsets that have the 2.5 mm two prong connection. If quality of the call is important you won’t compromise for wireless.
NEXT STEPS
Give agents the tools they need and deserve and agents will do a great job for you. When agents are comfortable with all their tools and equipment they can focus on the callers and not the broken chair. Agent’s furniture, computer, applications, headset and contact center platform make up the bulk of an agent’s daily tools. Make agents comfortable by providing best-in-class tools.
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INDUSTRY EXPERTS
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NETWORKING FOR CONTACT CENTER PROFESSIONALS
ABOUT NACSMA
NACSMA brings together like-minded professionals focused on advancing the customer contact industry and creating career growth.
BEST-IN-CLASS
Management of a best-in-class contact center sites require the continuous review of Agent Sourcing Models, Organizational Training and Management Development Programs.
NACSMA MEMBERSHIP
NACSMA is a professional, non-profit association whose members represent customer contact organizations and the vendors who support them.
IMPLEMENTATION
When a contact center organization expands to an additional site or requires new space, the steps to properly implement are unique to each organization but do have standard phases.