Work-from-home options are becoming the norm as companies manage through social distancing concerns while sustaining business continuity. The contact center industry is no different. Large percentages of associates are bringing laptops home and logging in remotely.
Once they’ve completed the initial setup, creating and maintaining a great at-home associate experience will translate into their ability to provide a great experience for customers.
How do companies do it? Here are 14 tried-and-true ways to help work-at-home associates be highly productive and engaged from anywhere.
Enable virtual collaboration
Make it easy for associates to reach out to other members on their team and across the organization.
1. Social collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Yammer enable employees to easily communicate and share information with each other on a messaging platform.
2. Other collaboration tools such as Jira and Basecamp are helpful for staying up-to-date on the progress of projects, and to share documents and other content.
3. Create an “expert library” of employee profiles based on subject matter expertise to help associates quickly locate key employees to resolve customer issues quickly and efficiently.
4. Use AI-powered tools to rapidly search knowledgebases and serve up recommendations faster.
Enhance the workday
Use mobile devices and apps to give associates more flexibility and efficiency.
1. Help associates better manage scheduling and compensation. A mobile app can alert associates of volume spikes with bonuses for those who work on short notice.
2. Use predictive analytics and forecasting technology to help team leaders make informed decisions about staffing levels.
3. Allow associates to review their work hours and paychecks on their mobile devices.
Maintain company culture
Help employees feel that they’re part of the company wherever they are.
1. Maintain daily huddles with teams. Ask all employees to use video conferencing for their daily communications.
2. Appoint an individual or form a committee to come up with virtual team-building activities that are connected to and uphold your company values.
3. In addition to formal team-building activities, acknowledge birthdays, anniversaries, and upcoming special occasions when groups get together.
4. Invite senior leaders to come to group meetings, celebrate wins, and share information with teammates.
Provide anytime-anywhere access to learning and training
Associates can get a hands-on learning experience at their convenience.
1. Use AI-simulated learning to allow associates to interact with voice-enabled bots that replicate customer interactions, then immediately provide tailored feedback, coaching, and performance results for continuous improvements.
2. Have managers provide video or chat coaching (depending on context and preference) to personalize interactions.
3. Let associates “choose their own adventure” from a menu of immersive learning experiences.
The key takeaway is that regular and personalized contact is important for managing remote employees and helping them feel part of the team. Advanced technology has afforded us multiple ways of staying in touch and working efficiently. With the right resources and support, associates can deliver fast and reliable support whether they’re in a traditional contact center or working from home in different countries across the globe.
To learn more about how to build resiliency into your business with work-from-home options for your contact center, read TTEC’s at-home strategy guide, Resilience Begins at Home.
