What Does The Operational Assessment Procedure Do?
This procedure is used to evaluate the effectiveness (and the efficiency) of all aspects of a contact centre under the five operational pillars (Strategy, Processes, Technology, People and Structure). The procedure focuses on the overall effectiveness of the contact centre operation as well as the alignment of the operation to the contact centre desired strategy. The purpose of this procedure is to assess the overall condition (health) of the centre and provide recommendations for future improvements that enhance the operation aligned with its strategy. The Operational Assessment also provides a comparison to best-in-class centres.
When Is An Operational Assessment Appropriate?
An Operational Assessment is a powerful tool for any centre wanting to know if they are achieving all their potential and if not, what type of improvement they require to reach those potentials.
This procedure is also very appropriate for call centres trying to enhance their customer satisfaction index by emphasizing what is important to their customers.
Typically, contact centres should perform this procedure once every 2-3 years, either internally or by using external resources (more frequent for younger and less mature centres).
What Is Unique About An Operational Assessment?
Traditionally contact centres try to improve their operations based on immediate challenges (real or perceived) facing them, with little or no regards for long-term strategy of the centre or underlying links between various processes. As a result many improvement initiatives either do not succeed or fail to return the expected benefits.
An Operational Assessment is a snap shot of the entire centre examining the overall effectiveness of the centre as well as all the contributing components (processes). By assessing the operation of each individual process and the relationship between them, one can determine which of the processes is lagging behind and which improvement can provide a better (desired) return.
PAG’s Operational Assessment includes reviewing, collecting data and analyzing all the contact centre processes (both quantitative and qualitative), interviewing staff (agents, Team Leaders, Management), on site observation and comparisons to best practices from best-in-class organizations.
The Operational Assessment procedure focuses on overall health of the centre under the five contact centre pillars (Strategy, Processes, Technology, People and Structure). The procedure will identify processes that require immediate improvement (to maximize effectiveness and efficiency and reduce operating costs) as well as any potential enhancement in the overall operation of the centre to align the centre with the desired strategy for the corporation.
Why Is Operational Assessment Important?
Similar to an annual physical test, it is important to find out how healthy (effective and efficient) a contact centre is running. What are the areas for concern before they become a major problem and what can be done to improve the overall operation of the centre matching the desired outcome? Unfortunately, similar to an annual physical, many organizations believe they do not have time or resources to do such assessments and end up paying a much higher price dealing with the eventual inefficiencies and/or diminished effectiveness.
What Should The Client Be Concerned About?
The client is concerned about how to obtain maximum benefit from this procedure.
- Provide insights to current internal processes and procedures
- Provide resources to work with the PAG facilitators (access to the centre, available data, staff and team members in order to develop process maps).
Why Do I Need To Use This Procedure Now?
There are very few centres that operate at full potential. There are even fewer who are capable of adjusting their operation for any further changes (such as expansions). The Operational Assessment will give those centres a deep and complete understanding of how their centres is operating and what it needs to do to respond effectively to current and future needs of the organization.
Those centres that are operating below a satisfactory level can benefit from this procedure by understanding root causes (not always obvious) and directing their efforts at processes that can provide the biggest return.
Even those centres that are not facing immediate pressures will benefit from this procedure by establishing a road map for the future improvement and enhancements aligned with the strategy of the corporation and any future needs for the centre.
Why PAG?
Using consultants in this type of project brings an outside perspective. This involves an assessment through a different set of eyes, an unbiased viewpoint that is based on facts and the learning from best practice information observed in other organizations. PAG consultants have operational experience themselves and have successfully developed and facilitated this methodology.
How Much Would It Cost?
The length and the cost of an Operational Assessment project varies significantly with number of active processes present and number of agents. Typically, for a mid size centre (50 to 100 seats) the assessment would take 4 to 6 weeks to complete with the total cost of $30K to $45K plus expenses.