Managing the modern way

Managing a workforce in the 21st Century is a process comprising old-school skills such as face-to-face communication, delegation and pushing towards targets, but also a digital system that maintains order and best practices in a fast-moving environment, such as Workforce Management Solution software.

In a complex multi-site operation there is a need for fluid, dynamic organization of time, forecasting potential problems and conflicting schedule demands, and adjusting resources accordingly.

It is no longer good enough for workers or systems to be double-booked or repeatedly unavailable, or for customers to be fobbed off.

Too many people can tell horror stories of waiting for too long on the end of a line for a response – and loyalty soon diminishes. It’s also a frustration for the employee, because no-one wants to disappoint their client.

Common hallmarks of a disorganised company include:

*Low productivity: It is estimated that professionals spend 28 per cent of time reading and responding to emails and 19 per cent of time searching for information crucial to their job. Paperwork and spreadsheets might be mind-numbing, but they are usually there for a reason.

*A scattergun approach to ideas and activities, pursuing too many different avenues when some well placed sniper shots in key directions would be more beneficial.

*Poor communication between different departments, and staff and employees. Being passed from one person to another, with no end in sight, soon leads to dissatisfaction.

*Lack of knowledge and time awareness in employees. Too many people like this can soon drag a company down, but sometimes a one-day course, an hour or two of training or spending some time in another department would fill in gaps that someone is too embarrassed to ask about, and that a manager is unaware of.

*Higher stress levels and employees leaving. In the modern day working environment the mess created by an absent-minded boss or department leader is not always easily cleared up.

Sometimes these factors can be rectified through a solution as simple as moving the scheduling of one task to another time, perhaps when a call centre is less busy.  Perhaps it means moving employees around to best utilise their skills. Or maybe it means researching what caused a customer to move away, or return.

These lines of enquiry all sound easy in theory, but the reality is not always that way.

Workforce Management Solution software aims to ensure a logical and pragmatic service, by delivering advanced workforce management functions for different channels of the business in a way that still allows managers to choose the approach that works best in their environment.

A day’s events can be managed, time management can be improved, and all aspects of the business can be harmonised. What’s more, the system allows managers to monitor real-time data and adjust schedules accordingly throughout a working day.

Whatever system you use, make sure you use it well, because your competition will soon expose you if they are using it better. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly, and you will possess a better chance of success.