Training Contact Center Agents to Multitask
As call center agents move to fully functioning omnichannel contact center agents, the question of agent training comes into focus—particularly training contact center agents to multitask. Can it be done? What is an agent’s capacity to multitask?Agents are no longer simply answering phones. They are scanning customer information housed in contact center CRM systems. They are juggling customer chats and emails. And they are completing AFW (after-call work, or post-call processing) to log interaction information for the future. Often, they are doing some of this simultaneously, operating as blended agents who handle inbound and/or outbound customer interactions across multiple voice, web, and digital channels.To ensure that your customer satisfaction surveys do not suffer due to your agents’ inability to multitask, it’s important to understand agent capacity to multitask—and the type of training that is needed to impart the multitasking skills your operation requires.The amount of cognitive load one individual’s brain can handle is limited. What often happens, rather than multitasking, is “split-tasking.” What do I mean by that? Well, rather than truly comprehending information and completing tasks at the same time, an individual is more likely to split their attention and focus—rapidly shifting back and forth between information and tasks they need to perform.For agents to learn to split and shift focus rapidly between a multitude of initiatives at once, without it affecting their ability to provide exceptional customer experience, two things are required: training and time. Here are a few ideas to help along the way:
