Ways in Which Leaders Help in Managing Performance at Call Centers

Over past years call centers in India have made a mark for themselves in the international market because of the cheap and capable labor. Call centers in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Bangalore are the most sought-after by the foreign companies who wish to avail call center support services.

Leaders in the call centers make operations easier by managing, motivating the agents to give their best output thereby making call center services in India unbeatable in achieving set standards and goals. 

Call centers are of two types, Inbound and outbound call centers. Inbound call centers deal with calls made by the customer to the call center, for example, customer care whereas, call centers outbound are the ones where the agents make the call, for example, Outbound sales call center. Outbound call center outsourcing is most common as it reduces the operating costs of the company.

A manager in many ways can help the all centers in maintaining and improving performance has he undertakes many duties and responsibilities that aim at reducing wastage of time, money and efforts. 

Role of a Manager in a Call Centers -

·         A Manager has to determine the call center's operational strategies which can be done by - 

1.       Conducting needs assessment test, 

2.       Reviewing performance, 

3.       Doing cost-benefit analysis

4.       Capacity planning

·         Identifying and evaluating state of the art technologies and employing them to enhance the output.

·         They define the user requirements, establishing technical specifications, productivity, production quality and customer service standards. 

·         They contribute information and analysis which help in making organizational plans and reviews.

·         He/she develops systems for the call center by augmenting the customer interaction, voice response systems, and voice networks. They design user interfaces, execute plans for user acceptance test, implement planning and controlling functions  

·         A manager constantly improves and maintains call center operations by constantly monitoring system performance. 

·         He/she has to identify the problem, discrepancies or any deviations from set standards and take corrective measures towards them. He has to prepare, and complete action plans devised. 

·         He/she must complete system audits and analyses, manages system and process improvements, installing upgrades in the systems, undertake quality assurance programs. 

·         Performance cannot be managed if the human resource is not properly managed, a manager also undertakes human resource activities such as, recruitment, selection, orientation, training, assigning, coaching and counseling while at the same time disciplining employees, he is required to communicate job expectations, reviewing job contribution, appraisals and reviewing compensation actions. It is very important for leaders to enforce policies and procedures.

·         There are financial objective set, a manager must meet those objectives by planning and estimating requirements, preparing the actual budget, scheduling and keeping a record of expenditures, matching the actual results with set standards, and if any deviations are found the manager can take corrective actions. 

·         The leader, by evaluating and installing equipment helps in maintaining them, develops preventive maintenance programs, scheduling repairs, implementing and evaluating upgrades.

·         A manager acquires professional and technical knowledge by keeping an eye out for new and emerging trends in the field, as it helps give the organization first mover advantage, attends workshops which enhance skills, establishes the personal network, employing state of art practices. 

·         A manager helps the organization to achieve organizational goals, by directing the efforts of all elements of the organization towards those goals, a manager assumes ownership for new and different requests, he explores opportunities which can add value to the jobs. 

Qualities and Skills of a Good Leader  

·         Customer Focus – The main focus of a leader in a call center is always the customer, the customer's satisfaction is his/her topmost priority.

·         Customer Service – Call centers aim at providing customer service, assisting the customers, solving their queries and doubts.

·         Verbal Communication – A good leader must have communication skills, and call centers generally work on voice systems(calling), it becomes imperative for the manager to be a good verbal communicator. Along with this, he must communicate with his subordinates to effectively and efficiently achieve goals.

·         Informing Others – In a team, communication is the key, a good leader keeps everyone in the loop, by informing his teammates, subordinates of changes, targets, their roles and duties and what he desires from them.

·         Process Improvement – Improvement helps the call center to be on the top by implementing improved processes and technologies. First mover advantage always helps one to have an advantage over others.

·         Problem Solving-It is common for the problem to arise in day to day working, a good leader has to be quick on his feet and solve the problem as soon as possible.

·         People Skills – A good leader has a high emotional quotient, he is able to easily comprehend what a person requires to motivate them, he understands his team members, creates a bond with them which help improve their performance

·         Teamwork – A good leader is always a team player, he values the suggestions of others, take them into account when making a decision, gives credit to his team members as and when required, discusses his idea with his team. 

·         People Management – A leader must know how to manage people, how to get best results from them, in what ways can they attain their full potential and how can the company benefit from their contribution.

·         Managing Processes – Along with managing people, he is also required to manage the processes that are undertaken by the call center, he is required to supervise the processes, and prepare requires reports, he must also check whether the actual output matches the set standards and take corrective measures in case of deviations. 

·         Emphasizing Excellence – In all the processes and projects undertaken by a good leader aims to exceed the set standards and deliver only the best