In nearly every industry, the ideal way to help new hires and inexperienced team members grow and improve is to monitor their performance. Management team members count this as one of their most important tasks; to help newer employees achieve success is to help the company overall.

However, this can be difficult in larger companies, especially those where the number of entry-level employees far outnumber management. Thankfully, there are solutions for keeping your agents working at a great pace - and hitting their goals along the way - that don’t require constant physical presence from management team members. Here’s what you need to know about monitoring agent workflow in your contact center or other large business - and what benefits you can expect to realize when doing so.

Should You Be Monitoring Agent Workflow in Your Center?

If you aren’t already monitoring agent workflow in your facility, you may wonder if the process is truly necessary. Some business owners also worry that doing so might negatively impact their company; people don’t enjoy being watched too closely, after all.

The trick is to monitor your agents effectively- watch over their progress without smothering them - and to do it in a way that yields valuable information. The truth is, your facility definitely does need agent monitoring. You just need to ensure that it’s the right kind.

The Benefits of Agent Monitoring

Why should you be monitoring agent workflow? There are so many benefits of doing so; the better question might be why shouldn’t you?

When you keep track of what your agents are doing - or not doing - you are better able to counsel them on how to do better. Some of the benefits of monitoring agent workflow include:

• Tracking agent performance. Learn how well your agents are doing - and how you can help them improve - by monitoring their work.
• Providing feedback for agents. Training should include plenty of feedback. This gives agents something to visualize or consider that they can relate to when working on self-improvement.
• Interceding when help is necessary. Sometimes, even your best agents need help. Know when to give it to them with monitoring.
• Curbing issues before they become big problems. Never let things get out of hand, using agent workflow monitoring.
• Improving scheduling practices. Are your agents working too many hours? Are there a lot of agents on your payroll who rarely work or who could stand to be scheduled more heavily? These imbalances can be solved through workflow monitoring.
• Increasing agent productivity. Every agent has a level of output that they are comfortably capable of achieving. Monitoring can help you determine where this level is for your agents. This will give you a solid idea of what kind of workload you can schedule for them - and practices to help them achieve more.
• Avoiding agent burnout. When you know how much your agents are getting done, you are better able to schedule them so that they aren’t overwhelmed. If an agent is routinely missing goals, consider adjusting theirs to empower them and help them reach their potential.

Best Approaches for Agent Workflow Monitoring

Now that you understand more about the reasons for monitoring agent workflow in your center, it’s time to learn more about the best way to go about it.

There are two approaches that can be used separately when providing agent monitoring, but which are most effective when used in tandem. These include screen sharing or collaboration, and call monitoring. Both of these methods are about supporting your agents through surveillance, rather than making them feel less than capable.

When you monitor your agents through a screen-sharing platform, you can recommend solutions or assist with problems in real-time. The bigger benefit of this approach, though, is that in offering support, you won’t be causing any distraction from the calls or other customer service tasks that your agent is already engaged in. You can guide them through important processes without it being detrimental to any others.

The other approach that most centers would do well to consider is call monitoring. With call monitoring software, you can hear what your agents and your callers or clients hear in real-time. This software also offers the benefit of being able to interact with your agents during these calls. You can whisper encouragement or coaching to your agent as needed, or guide them through particularly difficult scenarios. With whisper features, you can do all of this without interrupting their conversation with the consumer. With barging - an equally useful feature - you can interject when calls don’t go well and take control so the consumer can be assisted.

Call monitoring doesn’t always have to happen in real-time. In many centers, call monitoring happens via recorded calls which are analyzed and used for training purposes. This is very useful for centers that are looking to improve employee performance but which don’t have the personnel on-site to perform regular, live monitoring.

Did you know that you can also monitor agent performance and workflow beyond the recording and live monitoring of phone calls? This kind of monitoring - performed using metrics tracking and consumer and agent feedback - is just as important to the success of your center. In fact, by addressing concerns that are raised through this type of monitoring, your center can expect to see dramatic gains in productivity, consumer loyalty, agent dedication and satisfaction from all parties. Now, those are some good reasons to keep an eye on your employees!

Now that you know the benefits of keeping frequent tabs on your team by monitoring agent workflow, you’re likely ready to invest in a monitoring system if you don’t already have one. For the very best in call center software and solutions, talk to the industry experts at ChaseData. We offer everything you need to improve performance and grow your operation, from call monitoring technology to payroll solutions and much more. When you’re ready to realize major moves forward, give us a call!