Supporting and Engaging Remote Agents

In the past year, businesses across the world have seen significant disruptions to their daily operations. For many industries, this has meant, changing the way they operate, enabling staff to work from home and trying to keep staff engaged regardless of where they are working from.  Below are some of the tools and strategies that we’ve seen implemented:

1.Improved Communication With Remote Agents

Communication with your team is a crucial part of your daily business processes, whether they are in the office or not. Communication should be more frequent when your agents are working from home. Without daily touchpoints, it’s difficult to know how your staff are coping.

Frequent daily communication with your remote staff has several benefits. Primarily, it’s a great opportunity to understand the workload of your team and how they are accomplishing their goals. Secondly, it is a great way to let your employees know that you haven’t forgotten about them and helps build better relationships and engagement. Customer service is not an easy job, and feeling like you are on your own can make it even harder. Schedule multiple touchpoints throughout the day to ensure that your team is feeling connected to your business goals.  Video conferencing tools such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom have been invaluable as they enable you to see everyone and not just hear their voice.

2.Virtual Team-Building Exercises

Team-building exercises and social opportunities are a crucial part of building a healthier company culture. While it can be really hard to establish a company culture when your team is working from home, it isn’t impossible. Company culture isn’t about whether your snack room is stocked. By establishing sessions for team-building exercises you can improve engagement and productivity across the board. When your team isn’t in the office, you can leverage gamification practices to create a little friendly competition while driving engagement for your staff.

Virtual lunches and team quizzes are great ways to connect with your team while working remotely. It’s not the same as sitting across the table from your team, but it’s another way for your team to connect and build rapport.

3.Equip Your Remote Team With Everything They Need

Remote staff have an entirely new set of challenges that they would not typically face if they were in the office. Productivity and engagement can plummet when your team isn’t able to easily collaborate and meet face to face. When your agents are working remotely, it’s important they have the right tools to help them operate successfully. Workforce Optimization software equips your staff with the tools they need to see how they are performing, apply for leave, swap shifts and see what they are working from their mobile phones or the web. Other tools such as real time automation can monitor the queues and add coaching or training to schedules at suitable times or message team leaders if it looks like someone needs help.

About Call Design

Call Design is a leading provider of workforce optimization software solutions, providing contact centers with the insight they need to improve their operations. With our consultative approach, we develop a deeper understanding of your business goals and challenges. Our tools can empower your staff to provide your customers with better service and a better experience. We work with you to integrate a solution that meets the needs of your business. Contact Call Design today to learn how we can help you.