Coach Me

Anybody who has ever worked in an inbound contact center knows the environment is high pressured and performance orientated. The performance targets are high, the calls never stop and rest breaks are far and few during each shift.

To operate at levels of such high expectations, many contact centers have turned to coaching as a tool; usually with the team leader being a coach to their agents.

Coaching unlike counseling is targeted at a specific area of performance with predefined objectives and target. It’s also very much about providing feedback. As the coach, team leaders need to appreciate that feedback good or bad must be honest. It should come from the heart and be of value to the agent involved. After all, coaching is about being people orientated, not task focused.

Furthermore, constructive feedback is an extremely powerful process and must be communicated delicately .It is important that the agent acknowledges and accepts the feedback before the coaching session proceeds further. As a coach, we must also be willing to receive feedback ourselves, if any is given.

The ultimate objective of any coaching session is for the purpose of development. Team leaders need to ensure continuity and that the coaching session is solution focused. At the end of each session, the agent must leave with the knowledge of their performance and what needs to be done to enhance their performance

Lastly, coaching sessions should never be perceived as negative. Always ensure that it is held periodically and not just when negative performance needs to be highlighted. Coaching is an integrated part of contact center operations. It cannot be seen in a bad light and the team leaders handling these sessions need to devote time and effort to the development of their people.