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Inbound Call Centers: Fostering Success
Managed Services is an exciting environment for IT engineers and offers opportunities to learn and hone a variety of technical skills. With these opportunities come challenges. This article offers suggestions to improve the performance of any support desk or operations team, whether in managed services or in a corporate setting, and examines some of the challenges associated with the help desk or call center component of managed services. Dynamics within an inbound call center can vary, but the most important characteristic of a help desk team is that it functions as a cohesive unit. Specifically, a oneness of purpose and action that can be described as team cohesion. There is a high correlation between team cohesion and team success in a call center environment, especially within managed services.
This article assumes the following: a) most of the recommendations and challenges that follow are within the context of a managed services model; b) companies want to maximize the effectiveness and well-being of their inbound call center staff; and c) a support desk staff can benefit from improved team cohesion.
Team Cohesion
Three important attributes of a support desk engineer are a commitment to excellence, respect for team members, and a willingness to server. These traits foster trust and lay the foundation upon which team cohesion is built. Team Cohesion is the coalescence of purpose toward a homogeneous group goal. It embodies the principle of Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno; one for all, all for one. Not just unity, but also a collective single-mindedness of duty and skill. This is especially critical in an inbound call center environment.
Team Cohesion is more than just a group forming a united whole. At its core it relinquishes individualism for the sake of service; especially service to clients, but also service to team members. In an inbound call center technicians rely on each other to manage the reactive influx of work that's part of a support desk environment. This reliance is strengthened by interdependency among team members, and a commitment to share the work load. However, Team Cohesion even goes beyond the “burden shared is a burden halved” adage. Comparatively, Task Cohesion is a coalescence of action toward a shared responsibility. Task Cohesion leverages shared resources to achieve a desired outcome. In concept it "cares" neither for the well-being of the resources nor the well-being of the beneficiary of the completed task (i.e. the customer). By contrast, Team Cohesion not only involves solidarity of purpose, but also thrives on genuine humility and sensitivity to others’ needs. It’s void of the concept that a task is “beneath” any team member. This leads to a healthy loss of individualism and promotes the sharing of effort and knowledge. It fosters a “teach us your strengths so we become stronger, and we’ll teach you ours so you become stronger” approach, benefitting both team member and customer.
Environmental Constants
A support desk staff, like any team, faces challenges. Overcoming them is fundamental to growth and sustainable success, and it builds team cohesion. Some challenges are limitations that represent environmental constants within a managed services inbound call center. Identifying and understanding these make it possible to manage them. Environmental Constants by their nature cannot be removed from the "challenges" equation. It's best to acknowledge them, accept them, and ultimately embraced them. They include the Barrage Effect, Coverage, Grouping, and Site Blindness.
The Barrage Effect is the random and constant influx of service requests via telephone, service tickets, and in-person requests. Staff members experience stress brought on by continual interruption and uncertainty, or the possibility thereof. This is an accepted constant for a support desk environment, but represents a source of stress nonetheless. Any parent that’s had a child continually vie for their attention while trying to complete another activity has experienced a form of the Barrage Effect. A byproduct of this effect is the sense of being “chained” to one’s desk. This has the potential to lead to discord among staff when a team member does something as routine as take a bathroom break, attend a meeting, or is absent from work.
Another environmental constant is Coverage. Simply put, Coverage represents personnel resource management to provide high quality customer service. The component of Coverage that support desk engineers are most affected by is Scheduling. Atypical work schedules are a frequent part of a service desk. Staggered shifts and lunch breaks, though necessary, erode team cohesion. They inadvertently contribute to a sense of exclusion from the reset of the company staff, and make it impractical for support desk engineers to go to lunch together or with other employees, or to attend company sponsored lunchtime activities as a team. A possible counter measure to combat this effect is to encourage field engineers to volunteer to cover for a support desk engineer, or accompany them during the support desk engineer’s non-traditional lunch break.
Next, Grouping describes the support desk engineers’ seating arrangement and is an important environmental factor. There are different schools of thought and help desk models. However the best Grouping design for promoting team cohesion is close physical proximity to one another. This facilitates knowledge sharing, group synergy, and encourages camaraderie. In addition it’s easier to convey an “I’ve got your back” mindset, and to determine if a team member is on the phone, or otherwise engaged in a task. A different Grouping model is to place support desk engineers next to field engineers. This approach has its merits, but comes at the expense of the one for all, all for one mindset that’s integral to team solidarity and cohesion. It also introduces logistical considerations for work bench placement and accessibility.
Finally, Site Blindness is one of the most pervasive challenges for support desk engineers in a managed services environment. Though it’s part of the landscape, not seeing a client’s setup, server room, or floor plan can be an obstacle to quickly assessing and solving an IT problem. There are troubleshooting techniques that help mitigate this challenge. They include, but aren't limited to, gleaning valuable information from a remote monitoring and connection tool, information in a client management database, asking the end user questions that eliminate other possible problems (e.g. Are you the only user experiencing this issue?), and checking service history for that user or client. Ways to combat Site Blindness include information briefings by the field engineer, and photographs of pertinent client IT areas as warranted. Accurate and concise documentation that is easily accessible (i.e. labeled the same and filed in the same location for each client) is invaluable.
Team Dissonance
Team Dissonance is anything that reduces, undermines, or destroys Team Cohesion. Specialization of duties or distinct division of responsibility among individual support desk engineers can create Team Dissonance. Examples include assigning specific clients to specific support desk engineers. Specialization for field engineers is not only an effective customer service approach, but represents a practical way for a managed services company to leverage its talent base. But it's disruptive in a support desk environment. It undermines team cohesion and can make the support desk environment susceptible to the mindset “that’s not my concern because they’re not my client”.
Rotating the responsibility of specific client care between specific support desk engineers is also problematic. It's common for people to feel victimized while under stress or when workload is heavy. If a support desk engineer perceives another engineer didn’t pull his or her weight during their rotation, then it opens the door for resentment. If resentment gains a foothold in a teamwork dependent environment, especially in a homogeneous group that excels when responsibilities are viewed as a group effort, it causes dissonance.
Other things that contribute to team dissonance include over emphasizing the idea that the support desk is a springboard to better opportunity within the company. Everyone should strive to be the very best at what they do, no matter where they find themselves. Self-improvement and advancement should always be encouraged. However, forces that divide a team member’s attention or loyalties can weaken team cohesion. Also, one of the most destructive influences on group dynamics and team cohesion is the belief, sense, or reality that you are alone. No one “under fire” (the Barrage Effect) wants to be alone. There is strength in numbers. This is another reason why Coverage is important.
Ways to combat team dissonance are as varied as the personalities that make up a team. But at the core of all of them is a commitment to excellence coupled with the heart of a humble servant. From the team manager to the newest team member, helping one another out no matter how menial the contribution may seem is to fight dissonance and build cohesion. Sometimes it's as simple as asking a team member if they need help. Other suggestions include the sharing of information and knowledge. An ideal vehicle for this is a company wiki or knowledge base, but can also include things like notes attached to a customer's account record or taking time to update inaccurate information.
Management Methods
Volumes have been written on management styles and techniques. It’s neither the scope of this article to add to that discussion nor the author’s area of expertise. Rather management methods uniquely suited for inbound call centers and support desk environments will by their nature maximize team cohesion. Micromanagement is more likely to impede team cohesion than to promote it. Due to the unique nature of reactive group environments such as emergency call centers, IT support desks, or any rapid response services common sense dictates that a management style that engenders trust, teamwork, selflessness, and effective accessibility to the best tools and information will succeed.
Finally, it’s important for team members to respect management and recognize their authority regarding departmental and company matters. Leaders that implement policies, procedures, and methods that encourage team cohesion and minimize team dissonance will earn respect and loyalty from their employees, and ultimately foster success.