Tutorial taken from Prosci's
Quality Monitoring Toolkit

Agent feedback

Module 3 of a 5 part series on quality monitoring

The goal of this tutorial series is to present the Quality Monitoring Lifecycle and to explain the role quality monitoring has in the call center. Quality monitoring is an essential part of call center operations, but many times the real benefits of call monitoring are not realized - the monitoring takes place for the sake of monitoring. The first tutorial in this series presents the Quality Monitoring Lifecycle. The second module describes the monitoring step in this lifecycle process. This module examines the critical feedback step. Module 4 examines the final steps of the process - coaching. The fifth module examines how to make the most of a quality monitoring program and the key lessons and improvements your program can produce. All modules come from the Quality Monitoring Toolkit.

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Prosci's Quality Monitoring Lifecycle

Agent feedback

Feedback is the second step in the Quality Monitoring Lifecycle, and it is a vital aspect of quality monitoring because it serves as the catalyst for performance improvement.

Benchmarking results indicate that prompt feedback plays a major role in the success of quality monitoring programs. Participants in the 2001 Call Center Benchmarking study said that immediate feedback is important because it allows agents to better understand where they have succeeded and where they need improvement. One improvement most organizations indicated they would implement was to revise the feedback form and process to be objective, simple and consistent. They suggested making the feedback a positive opportunity for training and development. Similarly, one of the top changes planned for monitoring was to implement feedback, review and mentoring programs.

This tutorial will help you answer:

Who will give feedback to agents?
When will feedback be given?
How will it be given?

Who will give feedback?

As a matter of course, whoever conducted the monitoring should participate in the feedback session with the agent. They are in the best position to provide background, context and explanation of their observations.

In some cases when you are using a quality assurance team or an outside vendor to perform monitoring, these same people may not be the ones returning feedback to the agents. In these cases, you will need to consider who would be best to provide the feedback results.

Supervisors - Supervisors commonly give feedback. Their duties typically target performance improvement among individual agents, so it is very common for a large part of their duties to include feedback and evaluation exercises. They provide feedback that typically includes written evaluations.
Team leaders - Team leaders play a less formal role in the call center and this allows them to provide feedback to agents in a less formal manner. They should also have a form of written evaluation for agents.
Mentors - Mentors can give feedback to agents in an informal setting that allows agents to more freely ask questions and ask for advice on how to improve their performance. Mentors play a vital role in new agent development and with struggling agents.
Peers - Peers, much like mentors, can give feedback in an informal manner that is very helpful to agents who are struggling or new. Peers represent a "friendly" advisor who is there to offer helpful suggestions and answers about performance improvement.

When will feedback be given?

Feedback should be given as soon as possible. Research indicates that feedback proves most effective when given within 24 to 48 hours of monitoring. Giving feedback this promptly better allows agents to understand where they have succeeded and where they need improvement while the experience is still fresh in their minds. Immediate feedback was listed as the top improvement measure being undertaken by call centers.

Keeping feedback consistent and constructive

Keeping feedback consistent and constructive is easy if you can manage to create a schedule and stick to it. You may plan to deliver all veteran and successful agents' feedback within 48 hours, while new and struggling agents may get their feedback immediately after the contact has taken place.

However, you should not give Veteran Agent A feedback within the 24-hour timeframe, and then wait for three weeks to provide Veteran Agent B with hers.

There must be a uniform system of which agents are aware. This is not to say that all agents must be monitored on the same day at the same time. All feedback must be given in a consistent timeframe between groups.

How is feedback given?

Agent feedback needs to be presented in two forms:

Written
Verbal

Written feedback is a must, plain and simple. It may come in the form of a yes/no checklist or as a three-page assessment complete with a training plan and improvement goals. Most likely it will be somewhere between these extremes. Regardless, it is a key element in the documentation process of quality monitoring. Don't think of documentation in negative terms, either. Each session of quality monitoring is one small piece of the agent's overall statement of work.

Verbal feedback is important in itself. Verbal interaction between an agent and a supervisor, mentor, team leader or manager provides an invaluable resource for agents to improve their performance. Written feedback is not enough by itself. It is through verbal interpretation of scores and goals that agents gain insight into what they are doing and why. Agents can ask questions. They can interject their opinions.

Written feedback

In order to be effective, written feedback needs to be:

Logical
Easily interpreted
Objective
Accurate
Constructive
Accompanied by verbal evaluation

Verbal feedback

To be effective, verbal feedback needs to be:

Organized
Constructive
Thorough
Concise
Interactive
Personal
Accompanied by a written evaluation

Types of feedback

Once contacts have been monitored and evaluated, the monitoring data you gather will go to two places:

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Feedback to agents is delivered as an evaluation. This type of feedback helps agents improve their skills.

Feedback to the system is delivered as process adjustments or improvements. This type of feedback helps your call center improve its efficiency and operations. This feedback is overlooked in many quality monitoring programs. The Quality Monitoring Toolkit includes examples of this type of feedback and strategies for gathering and improving your call center systems.