Contact Centre Wallboards
Its just another stat on the wall
How can we work when our stats are burning?
Another stat on the wall!
(Or, ‘How can we work when our stats are burning?)
Wallboards have been an integral part of call centres and contact centres since the inception of the industry in the early 70’s. From the ugly ‘green screens’ of the past, to today’s high definition LCD plasma displays, the wallboard has always given contact centre managers a powerful platform with which to manage their operations and to drive performance. But it can be a dangerous, double-edged sword.
On the one hand, contact centre wallboards can stimulate positive operational performance. But when these tools are used inappropriately, they can contribute to developing a toxic operational culture, and can drive entirely wrong behaviours.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The typical contact centre is certainly one of the most micro-manged working environments imaginable. It is also amongst the most stressful. Targets, goals, SLA’s, all manner of KPI’s, workforce management and campaign data are only a few of the operational numbers constantly bombarding managers, supervisors, and agents. It can get to be too much!
Wallboards, when well-designed, properly configured and used appropriately, can play a major role in ensuring that your call centre or contact centre operates at peak efficiency and effectiveness.
The Advantages of a well-designed and well-managed wallboard
Wallboards have been used in call centres and contact centres for decades. Typical real-time data displayed on typical wallboards will include data relating to all or some of the following:
• Service Level
• Calls waiting
• Calls answered
• Abandoned Rate
• Calls Answered
• Longest waiting call
• Agents logged in /out
• Agents active/idle
• Campaign performance updates
• Special events
• Customer Satisfaction
• Net Promotor Score (NPS)
By occasionally looking up as the contact centre wallboard, agents, team leaders and supervisors can see at a glance, the key operational metrics for the contact centre. This information, if it is displayed in an attractive way, serves to keep agents and the management staff ‘in the loop’ regarding the real-time operational dynamics of the contact centre.
In addition, modern wallboard systems allow for management to easily add or alter the displayed content from time-to-time or as required. Additional updates to standard KPIs or news flashes could include team or company announcements, individual accolades, awards, incentive programmes, staff birthdays, product information and much more, to convey information and to sustain positive morale.
More progressive contact centres are today using wallboards to keep operational staff informed and up-to-date, about real-time Customer Satisfaction and Net Promotor Scores®.
Avoid the negative pitfalls of wallboards
A poorly utilised wallboard can cause several seriously negative outcomes.
There’s nothing quite so boring to a call centre agent than a cluttered, static, pure text-based wallboard. If it’s the boring, same-old, same-old, day after day, whatever is displayed on the contact centre wallboard is bound to be totally ignored.
Also, too much rapidly-changing, flashing or long, scrolling messages or information can be severely distracting to agents. It can break their concentration and can lead to unnecessary time-wasting.
Avoid using wallboards to display information that has no real value to agents. In fact, sharing certain information on the contact centre wallboards can be seriously demotivating and can bring down agent morale. It can also have a negative and counter-productive effect on call centre culture.
Sharing too much about information about individual agent performance can be dangerous too. And be careful not to display information that agents simply don’t have any control over. For example: Service Level and abandonment
rate. These are management and capacity-planning issues.
Misused wallboard information can often drive undesirable agent behaviour. Take Average Handling Time (AHT), as an example. If agents are being driven to reduce AHT, and constantly reminded of this by means of the wallboard, there is a very real danger that they will deliberately shorten customer interactions, at the expense of customer satisfaction and overall call quality.
Best Practice Guidelines
In the hands of an astute call centre management team, strategically placed wallboards, and the messages that they display, can have an extremely positive impact on operations.
The dual starting points for an effective contact centre wallboard implementation are having the most appropriate technologies, and secondly, spending considerable time planning, implementing and manging the solution on an on-going basis.
Modern wallboard management software allows for the creative use of data, images, colours, symbols, icons, fonts and much more, to display and communicate appropriate and relevant data and information.
Good planning will result in the deployment of fresh, attractive visual displays that are constantly changing, to avoid boredom and to maintain agent interest and attention.
A good idea is to consult with the front-line staff (agents and team leaders) to find out what information that really want and need to see on the wallboards. Also probe agents find out what type and style of wallboard graphics they find attractive.
The contact centre wallboard should be about communication of real-time information. Information that employees can use to contribute to the overall improvement of the operation, at that time.
Less is more…
The well-designed wallboard contains no more than between four and six data or information items at any time. Avoid over-using animations, flashing and long, scrolling messages. And it’s perfectly acceptable every now and then for the wallboard to display nothing more than a logo or a powerful slogan. Use KPI’s and operational performance data in bursts to avoid boredom, and to achieve maximum impact and agent comprehension.
It’s a clever idea to ‘mix and match’ real-time operational KPIs and other data with occasional snippets of company or call centre-specific news. Try and keep a strong element of fun going; without over-doing it!
Really great contact centre managers know the power and the potential of having a well-planned and implemented wallboard strategy. Here are a few things that you can do right now.
Every single day, display at least one thing differently on your wallboard. Agent’s birthdays and family events. Inspirational quotations. One line humour. Appropriate cartoons. Headline news.
Avoid cluttering up wallboard messaging or displaying certain KPIs or data that is essentially only of value to team leaders or supervisors. Some information is best ‘pushed’ to managers’ or supervisor’s desktops or tablets as ‘screen pops’ or dashboards linked to defined thresholds and alarms.
Wallboards are an ideal medium to inspire and motivate agents. Individual recognition for various types of achievements or other accolades, can become an important and greatly appreciated part of your contact centre culture. Using the wallboards to recognise agent birthdays or other personal or family events such as the birth of a child, also help to create a warm and friendly operating environment.
