Swapping notes

The Workforce Management (WFM) role in contact centres can be a daunting task, as these managers have the responsibility for deciding who works when, how many agents are needed and having it all finely balanced against the centre’s KPI targets and budget – yes, they manage the rosters and schedules. A good person to get on with then if you’re an agent who wants to take leave, and a great person to have around if you’re a contact centre with escalating call volumes!Mid last year a group of Workforce Planning Professionals (WPP), as they are known, met to start a regular professional development group in Auckland. WPP includes more than just workforce managers; there are also Operations Managers, Schedulers, Rosterers, Contact Center Analysts, Reporting Analysts – really it’s just all the support and operational crew for contact centres.  The WPP group meets about every two months to share professional skills, theory and expertise about workforce management in contact centres. At meetings they talk their own language and jargon and everyone in the room understands each other! They answer questions such as ‘what is an Erlang?’ They share information about what’s new, what training is on offer, how applications work, tried and true models, and aspire to attend conferences overseas on their specialist subject. The internet is bringing global skills to NZ, and so the group also has developing connections with their Australian, UK and US-based counterparts.   Each meeting has two guest speakers who are generally drawn from high-flying WFM managers, Ops Managers, Contact Centre Managers and service providers. We’ve heard some fantastic speakers from telcos, banking and insurance gurus, and how to schedule a city council during an All Black test weekend.WFM managers and anyone with an interest in the professional skills of workforce management, whether they are contact centre manager, HR manager, or curious team leader, is welcome. The events are coordinated by Giles Potter of Great Outcomes. For more details, visit www.greatoutcomes.co.nz.