Improvements to quality monitoring programs

Send this page to a friend

Module 4 - Improvements and changes to quality monitoring

The Call Center Learning Center is excited to announce its 2004 series on Quality Monitoring. This series will pull from our most recent benchmarking findings and the Quality Monitoring Toolkit to illustrate best practices in quality monitoring. Module 1 introduced the series and provided some highlights from the 2004 report. Module 2 examined the essentials of quality monitoring - who is doing it, how often and using what method. Module 3 discussed the categories participants used to evaluate their agents and how to design your quality monitoring scorecard. This module looks at improvement initiatives and the biggest changes centers are making to their programs. Module 5 concludes the series with tips for implementing or improving your own quality monitoring program.

Future quality monitoring changes

Results showed call centers are planning to make a number of changes to their quality monitoring process in the future. Some of these changes included:

1. Using recording technology to capture both voice and screen data. "We hope to add a new phone system that will record all aspects of a call, voice and screen."

2. Increasing the frequency of monitoring and feedback.

3. Redesigning or improving the monitoring form.

4. Automating the monitoring portion of the process.

Improvements to the feedback process for CSRs

Study participants provided a number of ways they worked to improve the feedback process for CSRs.

1. The most frequently mentioned improvement for the feedback of quality monitoring was timeliness. Participants stated that providing feedback immediately was important for making the feedback meaningful. When CSRs receive feedback right after a contact, they remember the contact better and are able to make more sense of the feedback. "We email the monitoring form to the CSR immediately after the call so they can relate the positives and negatives to that specific conversation."

2. Quality coaching meetings - instead of just delivering the feedback in written form, CSRs were engaged in active coaching, helping them to understand where they could improve. Some CSRs and coaches developed written plans for improvement.

3. Explanation of the benefits of quality monitoring and of feedback. Supervisors and managers worked to develop awareness about the role of quality monitoring and how it was a tool for improvement, not for punishment. "Meeting with the CSR to explain the role of feedback is to provide them with information necessary to excel."

4. Self-monitoring - feedback became an active process where agents could participate by listening to their contacts played back.

5. Meeting with the person who monitored the call - one-on-one meetings were viewed as effective when they took place between the agent and the person who actually had responsibility for the monitoring, rather than feedback from a supervisor or quality assurance team member who did not monitor the call but only acted as a messenger.

6. Team meetings - supervisors met with their team to discuss trends and specific lessons from quality monitoring. This was a safer environment for CSRs where monitoring feedback could be used constructively.

7. Training for supervisors, managers and leaders - several participants mentioned training for the people who gave the feedback. "[We] trained the supervisors who provide the feedback on 'how' to deliver positive and developmental messages."

8. Give CSRs ownership - participants found that agents would drive the service improvement when they felt valued and a part of the team with responsibility for the initiative. "Keeping them in the information loop, making them feel part of, and respected by, the organization."

Improving your quality monitoring program

A quality monitoring program is not a static system that you introduce into your call center like a piece of technology. It is constantly changing and providing important data that you can use to improve your contact quality as well as your call center performance.

To improve your actual quality monitoring program, pay attention to the trends that emerge.

• Listen to the monitors themselves for their perception of the program. Are they getting an accurate view of the customer/agent interaction?

• Ask agents how they like the new program. Do they feel that they are able to improve their own performance?

• Measure your performance improvement and make the results visible.

The Quality Monitoring lifecycle shows how all of the different components of a quality monitoring program interact on an ongoing basis.

Ask yourself on an ongoing basis:

• Are we using the results of our quality monitoring program to improve coaching and training of existing agents?

• Are we improving training for new agents based on the quality monitoring program and the data it returns?

• How has the quality monitoring program and its results impacted hiring practices and training programs?

• Can we revise our script or monitoring criteria based on monitoring data?

• Do our systems and software adequately support our agents? Can our agents use the systems effectively?

• What common problems are customers having? How can these be better addressed?

Managing change

Change management will be an important factor in your success when making changes to your quality monitoring program. Be sure to share with employees why the change is taking place, the risk of not changing and what the new program will mean to them personally. Whether you are implementing a brand new monitoring program or simply reorganizing an old one, educating your agents is important because it makes the transition easier for all those involved. Always remember that agents are involved in the process, even though their role may be passive compared to the behind the scenes work you and your team are doing.

Recommended Resources:

Buy the complete 2004 Call Center Benchmarking report for $189 - the new 2004 edition of the report includes a special new section on outsourcing and highlights of the biggest changes in call center management and most important changes planned in the future.

Quality Monitoring Toolkit - The Quality Monitoring Toolkit is the most comprehensive guide available for quality monitoring. Whether you are just starting a new program for monitoring contacts or need to overhaul your current call monitoring process, this toolkit provides definitive guidelines and templates for both phone and multi-media contact monitoring. Using research data from more than 400 call centers, the toolkit includes benchmarking results that will make your quality monitoring program a success. The toolkit includes:

• Methods for quality monitoring
• Benefits of quality monitoring
• Perception and legality
• The complete Quality Monitoring Lifecycle
• Survey criteria
• Scorecard content - with a sample based on best practices research
• Implementation and improvement guidelines

Send this page to a friend