Poor results in your contact center may be due to poor teamwork or other factors. Being in charge of an underperforming team can be stressful, but there are key things to take into account when making the decision to resolve your team’s struggles.
The whole team may be struggling as a whole or individual persons may be lacking certain knowledge or skills to perform well in the team. Either way, it is up to you as a leader to address the underperformance.
Identify the Issue
What is it that your team is struggling with? Is it low First Call Resolution rates, not enough sales, or a lack of emotional connection with customers? Before deciding what to do about your underperforming team, figure out the biggest issue at hand.
In many cases, the issues can be resolved if all the team members understand what the issues are. Once you have identified what it is your employees are struggling with, let everyone know.
Analyze the Teamwork
Great teams consist of individuals that hold shared responsibility for how well the team performs. Does your team understand the value of working together?
It may take time to analyze your team and catch onto characteristics they display as a collective. Things to look out for may include how communicative your team is, whether they view their performance as separate from the team, how often they ask questions about things they may not know about, how quickly they adapt to change, and whether they wish for customers to have a positive experience.
Have an Open Discussion
To boost your team’s performance, openly speak to your employees about the issues that are holding them back from excelling. Allow employees to express their personal opinions about concerns they may have.
If during the discussion multiple people have differing opinions, create an environment where all opinions are listened to and discussed. The higher performing teams listen to each other and take note of other people’s opinions and ideas regularly. A combination of diverse approaches may be just what your team needs to get on track.
Reward Good Teamwork
The best thing you can do for your team when they are trying to perform better is reward small and big successes. Your team deserves encouragement and will learn to work through issues as long as their leader motivates them.
Make goals and milestones for your team to achieve while they are working towards reaching a higher, long-term goal. Achievements throughout the process of improving performance will boost your team’s satisfaction, guaranteeing a more positive attitude and a higher chance in customer satisfaction as well.
Even if your team is underperforming now, taking the appropriate actions to help them reach their long-term goals will benefit your call center. It takes time for individuals to learn how to work together so don’t give up on your team.