Developing call center employees who succeed

Working in the call center industry can be challenging. Supporting your staff and developing them to be successful while managing the needs of your customers on a daily basis is a delicate balancing act. In my ten years as a call center training and coaching consultant developing and managing training and coaching processes, I saw employers who were very successful at developing their best assets – their call centre agents. I also saw organizations that struggled with this and had no clear vision on how to develop their staff to succeed. A number of years ago I spoke at a BC Contact Centre Association (BCCCA) conference on how to develop call center employees to succeed. One of the conference handouts that I came across recently is still relevant today and worth sharing as food for thought.

Setting Up for Success

 What’s in Place?

• What results are critical to meeting business objectives?
• How actively will management support new training initiatives?
• Has an operations review evaluated current job performance?
• What is the gap between actual and desired business objectives?

 What skills are required?

• What are the key job competencies?
• How do key competencies support desired performance objectives?
• Where have your top performing employees come from and what key skills and aptitudes do they have in common?
• Do you recruit people specifically suited to your environment?

Training for Success

 What are your training needs?

• What training is currently in place?
• What is the gap between actual and desired performance objectives?
• What is needed to bridge the gap?

 How do you meet your training needs?

• Does training incorporate sound adult learning principles and strategies?
• Are measurable learning outcomes in place?
• What training option(s) bests meets time, budget, and resource requirements?

Sustaining Success

 How can you measure success?

• What evaluation is in place after training to measure job skill transfer?
• Are call standards in place to ensure call monitoring is consistent and fair for all employees?
• Did job performance change or improve as a result of training?
• What has been the return on investment?

 How do you reinforce success?

• Do you have a coaching program that encourages ongoing performance improvement?
• What operational changes are necessary to implement a formal coaching program?
• How well does your incentive program reward employees while supporting sales and marketing initiatives?
• What changes can be made to support high performance?

 As you can see, many of these questions can be used in any organization, whether they have a call center or not. If you want to pursue the answers to some or all of the questions above, talk to your HR or training manager. If you don’t have internal resources available, contact us. We’d be happy to help you answer the questions and provide a plan for success.

Check out a great blog article

One of the blogs I subscribe to is eLearning Technology by Tony Karrer (www.elearningtech.blogspot.com). Dr. Tony Karrer, considered one of the top technologists in e-Learning, is the CEO/CTO of TechEmpower, a software, web and eLearning development firm out of L.A.  His blog post on Monday, January 18^th, 2010, titled “Top 10 eLearning Predictions for 2010: eLearning Technology” is a really interesting read.

My favorite prediction is #2: Convergence Ramps Up Big Time which focuses on the huge growth of mobile devices and how they’ll have an impact on workplace learning solutions as an alternative platform.  Stephanie and I have worked with clients who are challenged by workforces that are diverse and scattered around the globe. We’ve seen the potential for using smartphones, such as the Blackberry, as a vehicle to push bite-sized just-in-time learning content to their employees 24/7. If you’re interested in learning more about mobile learning, contact us here at Limestone Learning Solutions.

In the meantime, grab a cup of coffee or tea and check out the article.  It’s a good read – and don’t miss prediction #10.

A new ice-breaker

I recently attended a BC HRMA consultants’ roundtable event on Visioning and Strategic Planning for 2010. It was a very informative event and made for a great networking opportunity.  The roundtable was comprised of HR and training professionals who were either currently running or starting up their own consulting companies. Having facilitated or participated in many, many ice-breaker activities over the years, it’s challenging to find an activity that impresses a room full of HR and training professionals. The facilitator at this event managed to do that admirably!

At the start of the session, the icebreaker activity was conducted to help us focus on the evening’s topic. Before the roundtable event started, the organizer printed 50 to 60 postcard-sized color images on card stock. The images were an assortment of stock image photos (i.e., crossword puzzle piece with a keyhole and key inserted, a bonfire, a ladder, a treasure chest full of gold coins, a storm over an ocean, etc.). The postcards were scattered randomly around the tables in the room. We were asked to get up and choose two images: one that represented us in 2009 and the other that represented where we wanted to be or wanted to accomplish in 2010. Everyone chose their two cards then sat back down. We then introduced ourselves and showed each card, in turn, to the audience explaining why we chose them. There were some very interesting and thought provoking choices and explanations. We also got to know each other very quickly on a more personal level and it provided some great discussions during the networking chat at the end of the evening. 

Most everyone agreed that the icebreaker was one of the most effective and interesting activities of the evening. It gave us each the opportunity to reflect on our successes and challenges from the past year but also focused us on what we wanted to accomplish in the coming year. 

This icebreaker can easily be adapted for a variety of topics and purposes – not just for training but for group meetings and team building events. I’m looking forward to trying it out soon. My challenge will be to find just the right images to match the topic.

Why edit?

Recently at Limestone we’ve been working with a client who has stringent style guidelines for all their company documentation, including the training program that we've been developing. The process of editing - by our editing team and the client’s internal style and subject matter experts (SMEs) - has been a critical part of the overall project. 

 Reflecting on this makes me think about how the editing process is an important but often overlooked part of any training project. The learner experience and an organization’s credibility are greatly influenced by the quality of the written content - just think of how many times you’ve taken training that’s poorly organized, has spelling mistakes and grammatical errors that make it confusing or provides incorrect information. How did this affect your opinion of the training and the organization providing it?  

 We’ve found through experience that incorporating professional editing up front is well worth the time and cost involved. Editing your own work can be challenging – even the best writers realize the value of a second set of eyes.  For projects that involve written content, we include editing tasks in our training project plans to ensure this process isn’t missed. There are many different types including Subject Matter Expert (SME) edits and reviews, copy edits, production edits, and style edits. Choose the type of editing that’s right for your project.

 This makes me realize that validating training content for accuracy before your intended audience actually sees your information is really important, from both a technical and editorial perspective. Editing ensures that your content is not only technically accurate but is easy for learners to read and understand. It also ensures that information is consistent regardless of how many ways it’s used.

Managing Training Projects

Have you ever experienced working on a training project without a project manager overseeing it? One of the lessons I’ve learned from past experience is the importance of keeping on top of a training project, and the best way to ensure that happens is to have someone clearly responsible for project management. Regardless of the size of the project, effective project management can be the deciding factor on how successful a training project is. A good project manager will manage project communication, resources, budget, timeline, and deliverables to ensure the project runs smoothly and the product meets or exceeds the stakeholder’s needs and expectations.

Here’s how project managers bring value to your training project and support a successful outcome.

From the perspective of the project team, the project manager is the person on the team that manages and tracks the high level project activities so that team members are free to focus on the job of analyzing, creating and designing the instruction rather than having to juggle their job AND the management of the project.  Stakeholders also benefit from a project manager overseeing their training project; they have one clear go-to person when they have any questions or issues and can feel comfortable knowing that the project manager is looking out for their best interests.  A project manager can coordinate resources, quickly identify risks, manage the budget and oversee and keep on top of the many other project tasks and challenges that will arise while providing a clear path of communication with the stakeholder throughout the project.

A Project Manager‘s responsibilities for a training project can be broken down into three phases:

1. The project kick-off, which includes such activities as facilitating the kick-off project team meeting with the stakeholder, developing a project plan, creating a timeline, organizing resources, communicating team responsibilities and deliverables and finalizing the project budget.

2. Ongoing project activity, which includes such activities as providing regular project updates and communication with stakeholders, managing issues, risks and roadblocks, tracking the project budget and tasks, organizing stakeholder reviews and sign-offs of deliverables, managing contractors and managing changes to the project scope.

3. The Project Wrap-Up, which includes such activities as delivering the final product(s)/service(s), getting stakeholder sign-off on the project, conducting a post-mortem of the project and ensuring stakeholder satisfaction.

As you can see, having a project manager as part of your training project can provide many benefits to your organization. Above all, the improved efficiency in delivering products or services that is spearheaded by good project management leads to increased stakeholder satisfaction, which ultimately results in meeting or exceeding your stakeholder’s expectations - and we all want that!

What project management strategies have you successfully implemented for your training projects?

Making training work for everyone

Sometimes Paula and I are called upon to help clients with specific needs for specific audiences, like sales training on a new product for a group of sales reps or a retail sales team. These groups generally find it easy to relate to each other and see the value of training in a session as they have similar goals and similar work functions. When we work with an organization that is training a diverse workforce it becomes much more evident that training material must speak to each worker no matter their role.

Say you’re responsible for ensuring every individual in a company that builds widgets has WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) training. People working with chemicals in the widget manufacturing facility will easily see why they need the training. A janitor may be able to make the connection to their role. But what about the office receptionist or the accountant? You must tap into the ‘what’s in it for me?’ factor to engage these people in the learning – without having this motivation, they won’t value the training, which means they won’t absorb the information and the transfer back to the job will be low.

In the ideal world we'd all do one-on-one training so that each individual's motivational needs are addressed, but this usually isn't practical or feasible. Here are three ways you can help ensure you are motivating all employees in a training program:

1. To address in a simple and fairly inexpensive way, use images in your learning material that represent all the different groups of employees you are training. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it's amazing how many times it gets missed. Sometimes it's challenging to find the image you need with the right type of employee to support the concept, but remember that the value of seeing an employee that learners identify with far outweighs their concern over high-end photography. Don't be afraid to pick up that digital camera and grab some workplace models to pose for you!

2. A step beyond making sure you're addressing all learners with your images is incorporating plenty of examples that speak from the perspective of different types of employees. Examples can be anything from general comments within the learning material to a scenario set up in a paragraph and followed by review questions to a programmed scenario in an e-learning course that takes the employee down a different path based on what answers they give in different situations.

3. If your budget allows it, an effective way to address different learners in one course - whether in a face-to-face training guide, self-study manual or e-learning module - is to have employees work through one of three or four pathways through the content. Each pathway represents a different group of learners, like manufacturing employees, maintenance employees and administrative employees in the widget company example . The core content is the same for all, but the images, examples and review exercises are all customized for the different group so the learning really speaks to them.

What methods have you used to make your training work for a diverse audience?

First Steps in Creating an e-Learning Strategy

Many organizations that have traditionally offered ILT (instructor-led training) are venturing into the e-learning realm to improve the quality of their learning programs and get the best ROI from their training budget. The tricky part when you’re unfamiliar with developing and managing e-learning is where to start when you don’t know what you need to know to get started. Change is good and necessary but can also be daunting. Creating an e-learning strategy - a document that shows the value of implementing e-learning, answers the important questions and lays out a path for success - will ensure you consider all the potential issues and possible solutions in order to make informed decisions. Having a clear, concise and well thought out strategy will also win you support from senior management and key stakeholders. Implementing e-Learning in an organization requires people, infrastructure and budget resources. Senior management support will pave the way to successful implementation.

Here's a snapshot of some of the key factors you need to consider for your strategy:

Educate your audience

Don't assume that those reviewing your strategy will know as much about e-learning as you - it's worthwhile to give a brief outline and state the benefits.

Link to business goals and demonstrate ROI

Your senior management stakeholders will be asking themselves "Will e-Learning add sufficient value to the organization?" and What are the cost savings and expected improvements to business and employee performance?" Satisfy them by identifying how e-learning implementation will support business goals, and showing the estimated return on investment that can be expected (free tools are available online to help you do this). 

Think about communication

Many a great endeavor has failed due to poor communication. As part of your strategy, be prepared to create a detailed and focused communication plan. Use champions and mentors, communicate roll-out plans using e-mail, newsletters, publicity, focus groups, intranet, etc. and provide mechanisms for employee input.

Consider necessary IT support

Buy-in and support from IT is important to the success of any e-Learning implementation - you need IT on your side. IT groups are usually busy, and will want to know if the infrastructure is in place or available to support e-learning and  just what technical support is required. Be prepared to determine what IT implementation, upgrade and escalation plans are required. 

Address cultural change

This can be a HUGE challenge for some organizations so it’s important to identify in your e-learning strategy how change will be managed. Learners new to e-learning may be resistant to the change (i.e., “it works just fine the way it is.”). Create awareness, dispel myths, emphasize the “WIIFM” (what’s in it for me), provide training, communicate and encourage learner discussion and input.

Identify resources

The people, equipment and materials required to implement e-learning are both necessary for success and a cost and time consideration. Be sure to identify who will be involved and estimate their time commitment in your strategy; consider everyone from project sponsor to the target audience. 

Ensure accessibility for all learners

Your strategy must address how learners will gain access to your e-learning courses. Consider not only access to computers, network(s) and required software programs but also accessibility for learners with physical challenges (i.e., the visually impaired).

Draft a project plan

When you have gathered all the other data, you will need to create a project plan that estimates the time, resources and budget that will be required to plan, schedule, communicate, implement and evaluate the e-Learning program. This will form your blueprint for implementation of your strategy. 

Of course this could be considered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to crafting a complete strategy. If you're interested in finding out more, please contact us.

For further reading, check out this interesting article I found the other day on creating an e-Learning strategy.  The information provides more food for thought.

The value of analysis

Clients that I’ve worked with over the years have asked me a tough question – “What do you think is the most critical step in designing a training program?” Putting on my Instructional Designer "cap", this question always gives me pause for thought because it’s difficult to narrow it down to just one. The ADDIE model that we apply to all of our client projects here at Limestone Learning includes Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation phases.  Although all are very important, my answer is always ANALYSIS!

Analysis is the cornerstone of training, and it’s a critical step in the planning of any potential training program because it provides an organization with justification on whether training should be developed or not. When employees see an issue in their organization, it’s automatically assumed that training will solve it, but this isn’t always the case. Other causes such as inadequate documentation, low motivation/incentive, inadequate policies in place, and environmental issues can also be factors. So it’s really important to analyse training needs first to ensure that your training solution, if required, is relevant, effective, and meets the specific needs of the audience and the organization.

The response I typically hear is “… we don’t have time/money/resources to do analysis.” It's important to have a plan of action before starting analysis to ensure you stay focused and effective and provide results that are linked to the objectives and goals of your business.  Many well-intentioned organizations have conducted analysis that went on forever, engaged unnecessary resources and ultimately didn't provide the information they needed. Any organization will save time, money and resources by conducting a focused analysis and any training that is developed will more accurately meet the needs of the intended audience.

In today’s belt-tightening economy, we need to make smart decisions and look for ways to ensure that money allocated for training is wisely spent. Stay tuned for a future blog article on the types of analysis that can be conducted in the Analysis phase.

 

Three reasons to consider e-learning for your next training project

According to the Canadian Society for Training and Development, approximately 80% of professional development in Canada now includes e-learning. It’s obvious that an increasing number of organizations are seeing the value of investment in e-learning as an alternative to traditional classroom training. We think there are three main reasons everyone should consider e-learning as an option when developing a training program:

1. Economic Value

• Travel costs for trainers and learners are significantly reduced, if not eliminated.
• Session costs – room rental, catering and the like – are eliminated.
• Learner’s training time is maximized.
• Tracking functions can ensure manager’s time is used efficiently.

2. Flexibility in Delivery

• No classroom setup required; learners can take training from any computer that meets minimum system requirements.
• Many learners can participate in training at once, at times convenient to them or to their team, and work at their own pace.
• Courses can be updated quickly to accommodate changes to content or make improvements.
• Multiple courses from one organization or division, or on a particular topic, can easily be organized and permissions can limit access to them.
• Learning paths can be customized for particular user groups.

3. Consistency of Outcomes

• All learners learn the same material in the same manner.
• There are potentially higher rates of completion and retention.
• Learning content can be the “best of the best”: all subject matter experts can collaborate more effectively to ensure all topics and perspectives are covered.

Of course there is also a time and place for face-to-face training, but e-learning can be a useful option that allows you to maximize the time spent in the classroom for those topics that really benefit from hands-on experience.