Call center measurement: Span of control

Table 2 - Loose span of control

What is the right number?

The right number for span of control will depend on the type of call center and the management practices within the center. When benchmarking span of control with other customer service centers, make sure that benchmark comparisons are done within your same industry and type of center. According to recent benchmarking results from Prosci's 2004 Call Center Study, span of control ranges from 16:1 to 8:1 depending on industry and type of center. This range is significant. For example, a call center with 250 agents would save more than one-half million dollars per year by moving from a span of control of 8:1 to 16:1.

How will future technology impact span of control? 

The primary technology having an impact on span of control is automated call recording. Call recording can result in more efficient use of supervisor time spent on quality monitoring. Automated call recording can document call conversations and even screen navigation, allowing supervisors to choose the best time to monitor calls. 

It is also possible that contact channels which are dependent on written communications, such as email and fax, may result in a higher span of control (more agents per supervisor). Written communications lend themselves to CSR revisions. Unlike voice communications (which have an immediate impression on customers), agents have the chance to revise written material to meet customer expectations. As such, agents can correct their own communications. In addition, since the transactions are documented, the written communications lend themselves to monitoring at a later date. Written communications also require less immediate assistance from supervisors for difficult questions, unlike escalated phone calls that require urgent attention from supervisors.

Span of control and quality assurance roles

Some call centers use a quality assurance team to manage the quality monitoring process. This includes conducting quality monitoring with a dedicated staff who provide direct feedback to the CSRs. In these environments, the span of control of supervisors to agents may be greater since the role of quality assurance has been moved to a different group. When benchmarking span of control, you should asked if quality assurance is part of the supervisor's role, or if a separate QA staff is in place for this process.

How often should span of control be evaluated?

Typically, span of control is not evaluated until one of the following situations arises:

·         quality monitoring needs to be improved.

·         supervisors are stressed due to workload.

·         agent turnover is increasing or too high.

·         budget cuts are needed.

·         changes in the company’s organization.

How can span of control be controlled?

To reduce span of control (fewer agents per supervisor):

The most direct way to reduce span of control is to place additional supervisors in the customer service center. This strategy can include:

• hiring additional supervisors.

• promoting senior agents from within the organization.

• dividing the organization into more specialized workgroups.

To expand span of control (more agents per supervisor): 

1. Reengineer customer service center processes to provide CSRs with decision-making authority. These changes can include additional training, more flexibility in policies and procedures, and new reward and recognition systems to align with new expectations for CSRs.

2. Implement self-directed work teams that enable CSRs to manage their own work. These independent teams can be set up to perform their own quality monitoring, performance evaluations, and in some cases determine compensation levels. Teams have the benefit of fostering innovative thinking and collaborative work. In addition, they can reduce costs by eliminating the need for supervisors.

3. Minimize supervisor time spent on non-supervisory tasks. This change will allow supervisors to make better use of their time to ensure that agents continue to receive quality monitoring and one-on-one sessions, while expanding the number of CSRs that are supervised.

4. Implement peer monitoring so that agents can receive feedback without requiring supervisor time. Peer monitoring can be performed by all agents or only by senior agents. Peer monitoring not only relieves the workload of a supervisor (enabling an expanded span of control) but also has the added benefit of providing CSRs with more comprehensive feedback. In addition, peer monitoring can be more effective when CSRs are able to provide practical suggestions by sharing their experiences and knowledge.

5. Use call recording technology to better utilize supervisor time spent on quality monitoring or move to a dedicated QA team for call monitoring as discussed above. Automated call recording can record call conversations and screen navigation, allowing supervisors to choose the best time to monitor calls. However, recorded quality monitoring may not provide CSRs with the most effective feedback, due to time delays.

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The text of this tutorial was extracted from Prosci’s Call Center Measurement Toolkit.

The toolkit provides:

• comprehensive listing of required call center measures
• how to gather data and correctly calculate each measure
• how to improve your performance in each area
• benchmarking data