Overview

This call center training course focuses on applying necessary principles of workforce management to overcome daily challenges of forecasting calls, scheduling staff, and managing service levels in your call center.

Workforce management is the process of utilizing accurate staffing figures every hour to maximize service and minimize cost. It is one of the most important planning and management functions of a call center manager or a supervisor. During this training course, attendees will learn step-by-step process of effectively forecasting and calculating staff requirements, creating staff schedules, and tracking daily service and performance. You will also learn about the impact that each and every person can make in terms of achieving service goals for the day.

The training is designed around case study problems that cover typical forecasting and scheduling scenarios, as well as complications in today's environment such as skill-based routing, handling of other media contacts such as email and text chats, and staffing for a mixture of inbound/outbound calling.

By participating in this training seminar you will learn:

• How to Forecast, including a look at data collection and interpretation, as well as the recommended forecasting techniques used by support centers.
• How to Calculate Staffing required in a call center to meet service goals, and the many service and cost tradeoffs involved in staffing decisions.
• How to Schedule Staff, including the difficulties faced by call centers today in matching the workforce to the workload, and best practice options on scheduling the workforce and managing service on a real-time basis.

Course Chapters

• Chapter 1 - Introduction to Workforce Management
• Chapter 2 - Data Collection and Analysis
• Chapter 3 - Forecasting Call Center Workload
• Chapter 4 - Forecasting for Cycles
• Chapter 5 - Planning Resource Requirements
• Chapter 6 - Understanding Staffing Trade-offs
• Chapter 7 - Scheduling Call Center Staff
• Chapter 8 - Managing Daily Schedules and Service

Who Should Participate

Fundamentals of Call Center Workforce Management training course is designed for professionals involved in staffing the call center, balancing workers and workload, or meeting call center service level targets.  Whether you have a few agents or many, workforce management software or none, you will benefit from this introductory workforce management course.

Prerequisites

Attendees should possess a basic understanding of what a call center is, how calls flow into a center, and basic call center terminology. Course materials are in English, and attendees must possess a high level of English fluency.

Agenda

Day 1

Chapter 1 - Introduction to Workforce Management

• What is workforce management (WFM)
• The impact of poor workforce management
• What makes call center staffing unique
• The basic steps of workforce management
• Integrated workforce management model

Chapter 2 - Data Collection and Analysis

• The data collection process
• Sources of call data
• Data validation and dealing with aberrations
• Analyzing data relationships
• Business drivers and factors

Hands-On Lab: Data Analysis

Chapter 3 - Forecasting Call Center Workload

• Time series analysis
• Calculating trends
• Identifying seasonal patterns
• Calculating day-of-week factors
• Identifying time-of-day patterns
• The impact of special events
• Shortcut forecasting approaches

Hands-On Lab: Forecasting

Chapter 4 - Forecasting for Cycles: Regression and Correlation Analysis

• Cycle applications
• Regression analysis of total impact
• Correlation coefficients for distribution pattern impacts

Hands-On Lab: Analyzing a Billing Cycle

Day 2

Chapter 5 - Planning Resource Requirements

• Defining service goals: Service level, ASA
• Calculating average handle time
• The relationship between workload and calculating staff
• Calculating staff workload
• Erlang staffing models

Hands-On Lab: Staffing Analysis Using Software Tools

Chapter 6 - Understanding Staffing Trade-Offs

• The service-versus-staff relationship
• Agent occupancy?
• Calculating staff for outbound calling
• Calculating staff for email demands

Hands-On Lab: Perform a Consolidation Analysis

Chapter 7 - Scheduling Call Center Staff

• Balancing contact center and agent needs
• Basic scheduling principles
• Calculating schedule requirements
• The impact of workforce shrinkage
• Coverage objectives
• Components of scheduling
  • Shift span
  • Days on/days off
  • Start/stop options
• Schedule creation case problem
• Implementation challenges and tips

Hands-On Lab: Shrinkage Calculation and Schedule Creation; Testing Using Software Tools

Chapter 8 - Managing Daily Schedules and Service

• Tracking schedule adherence
• Monitoring intra-day variations
• Tracking and reporting service
• Daily reaction strategies
  • Staffing plans
  • Call flow strategies

Hands-On Lab: Perform Schedule a Adherence Analysis Using Software Tools

In-Class Hardware / Computing Requirements

Participants will have an opportunity to practice workforce management skills in class using software and automated tools.  Bring a laptop computer to class with Microsoft Excel installed.  Software to be used in the classroom will be available for downloading and installation prior to the course.  Spreadsheets, software, installation programs, and other tools will also be provided with the course materials on a USB flash drive.

Registration Fees

The per student registration fee for this training and certification program is $1,995 and includes:

• 2-day instructor-led training
• All training materials
• Certificate of completion
• Refreshments each day

Class begins at 9:00 AM and ends at 5:00 PM each day.  Business casual attire is appropriate.

Register securely online with confidence or please call (708) 246-0320.

Seminar Schedule

Aug 11-12, 2015	Rochester, NY	Double Tree By Hilton
Oct 20-21, 2015	Greenville, SC	Westin Poinsett
Dec 8-9, 2015	Las Vegas, NV	Platinum Hotel

Maximize Your Training Investment - Attend Courses Back-to-Back

Fundamentals of Workforce Management immediately follows these courses in select locations:

• Contact Center Director Training and Certification
• Contact Center Metrics: Tactical Uses That Drive Performance

More Training and Certification Courses

See the complete calendar of RCCSP Professional Education Alliance Contact Center Training dates and locations.

For more IT, technical and field support training course options, see the RCCSP Help Desk, ITIL, and Support Center Calendar.