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profile picture Is your business leaking money on inefficiencies?

Portfolio Maine, USA UMaine

Efficiency Expert

Seeking a job in operations or training. From processes to documents, small inefficiencies can add up to big losses. I find the inefficiences and eliminate them, saving you money and frustration.

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Four Ways to Improve Efficiency
  1. Flowchart Procedures and Processes. This is a simple, but effective way to highlight areas where processes are unnecessarily duplicated and complicated and inefficient.
  2. Follow Through. When we say we're going to do something, we need to do it. The act of procrastination is inefficient.
  3. Policy Bog Down. Never separate the task of writing policy from the people it affects. Ultimately, this results in inefficient policies.
  4. All Talk and No Action. At some point the purpose of discussion has been served and further talk is inefficient.
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    Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash

Method in the Madness

Methodology is a design process. It can be the steps you use to carry out a procedure, but it is not the procedure. It can be the reasoning behind why something is done, but it is not the thing that is done. Methodology would include methods of data collection and methods of analysis.

Agile is a methodology. Scrum is a methodology. Kanban is a methodology. Natural managers practice effective methodologies simply by seeing where and how to make improvements, and they aren't afraid to make changes. They don't give their methods a name, they don't know what agile or scrum or kanban are, but their management is effective and efficient because they know how to make people and processes and procedures work. Most of us aren't natural managers and having a learning path to follow will take us through the madness and into the organized, effective and efficient world of a successful business manager.

So, don't shy away from learning about methodologies or applying them to your job. Maybe you will find that you are a natural manager afterall and have been using that methodology all along. If not, surely you will enjoy employing new techniques proven to work in similar situations.

There are certain inherent problems that point to the need to implement these new methodologies and they include ongoing quality problems, excessive or inconsistent documentation, lack of progress, inability to meet deadlines and unproductive meetings.


Will Students Read the Material?
How to Improve Readability of Online Texts
Computer Screen
Photo by Geon George
on Unsplash

We know from research and experience that online students are less likely to read if:

  • The presentation style is not conducive to online reading.
  • The material is repetitive.
  • The material is difficult to find.
  • The instructions are confusing.
  • The reader does not believe what they are being asked to read is important to them. We have not answered the question, "What's in it for me?" or effectively discouraged the idea that, "This doesn't apply to me."

The following proven standards will make online texts easier to read:

  • Black text on a white background provides the best contrast.
  • Never use highlighting and refrain from using multiple colors. While it accomplishes the goal of attracting the eye to that area, it distracts the eye from other areas. The more highlighting in a document, the more strain on the eye and brain.
  • Point size between 9 and 12 point is easiest to read. Making your text larger does not improve readability unless employed to assist people with poor vision.
  • If you must use uppercase, use it sparingly. Not only is it rude to shout, but we read the shape of words and all uppercase slows the reader down by forcing them to stop and read every letter. The result is that people skip over text in uppercase.
  • Do not use online shorthands or emojis in professional materials. Many people do not know what they mean and some shorthands have multiple meanings.
  • Use proper grammar and sentence structure. If you do not care enough to edit your pieces, why should your reader bother to read them?
  • Be concise. The less there is to read, the more likely it will be read. Though repetition is a proven teaching method, when people start seeing things being repeated online, they are more likely to start skimming instead of reading.
  • Use a traditional font. You'll see varying opinions on which fonts are easiest to read. Serif fonts are considered easier to read because the serif completes the shape of a letter making each more distinct and easier to recognize. But online, the san serif fonts, like the one you are reading now, have become most popular.

Four Problems With Quality Assurance
And How to Solve Them
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Photo by Arlington Research on Unsplash

Quality assurance in call centers is often ineffective for the following reasons:

  • Infrequent QAs. Frequent QAs are necessary to determine actual trends. If you happen to QA the worst two calls out of 100 a week from a top performing agent, what have you determined? Probably how to create resentment in a top performing agent who starts looking elsewhere for a job.
  • Objective Scoring. Scoring is subjective. Don't try to make it objective. To objectify scoring, you may ask agents to strictly adhere to protocols that may make no sense in some situations and may actually be detrimental to your business.
  • Feedback Quality. Infrequent QAs and subjective scoring means quality of feedback is limited, thereby forcing supervisors and trainers to train entire teams again and again instead of initiating focused individual coaching.
  • Benchmarking KPIs. When trying to benchmark or determine KPIs, you have to ask yourself, are the results a reflection of agent performance on calls or QA performance doing QAs?

If you cannot QA 100% of your calls, then put your QA where it is most needed. QA new agents and leave proven agents alone. Use positive coaching techniques. Remember, QA isn't about scores, it's about finding and fixing problems. Scores are for management. This is business, not school. Agents are trying to feel accomplished and appreciated, not trying to get good grades. I am going to suggest something disruptive. Stop giving scores to your representatives. Is this really working for you? Are people really trying to get 100% scores? How much time are you spending responding to feedback about the scores? Why not stick to coaching? Scores can be calculated for management use and do not have to be attached to any representative.

Use KPIs you can measure with certain objectivity, such as average speed to answer and average call duration. Agents performing well in these areas will seek to perform well in all areas. They will readily accept reminders, updating, training and coaching, but not the QA results from only their worst calls. The QA team should have access to these KPIs so they can use them appropriately. For example, a coaching note might say, "Please remember to verify the address when accessing an account. We noted you answer calls very quickly and we appreciate this considerate response." Subjective QA should focus on helping individual agents improve and that requires reviewing more calls and having complete information to fairly relate coaching needs.

Use common sense when asking agents to adhere to scripts. Most agents will be happy to use the same scripting every time if it makes sense. If they start to find it doesn't fit every situation, they will become frustrated. Now, instead of being trained to adapt to this situation, their training proves inadequate and in fact leaves them unprepared. And worse, now they fail a QA because they didn't use the scripting even though it didn't make sense to do so. How many times have we as agents said to customers, "I'm sorry, but I am required to ask this or say this" because it was going to sound out of place?

Training is only necessary when new information becomes available or new procedures are implemented. If your team needs overall refresher training, then the training and QA programs are not adequate. Effective QA focuses on objective KPIs and subjective individual assessment. From these results, you can glean overall effectiveness of training, policies and procedures.



Order From the Chaos
How to Organize Those Stacks
Computer Screen
Photo by
Sharon
McCutcheon
on Unsplash

Any business can be drowning in excessive procedures and processes, and not even know it. Sometimes, just looking at the job board for a business tells me everything about how that business runs. From the number of listings to the job descriptions, the organizational structure and potential corrections start to make themselves known.

Organizing function on top of function and process on top of process eventually leads to an unstable stack. If you aren't looking for people who at least have a knowledge of Agile, Kanban, Scrum, or Lean development, your organization is probably not moving forward efficiently. If your job titles start to overlap, your organization is probably getting bogged down in administrative functions, or you could have a problem I call, "False Promotion." This is where managers reward their favorite employees by giving them titles and power without raises or responsibility.

Seeing the trees in the forest is not something that comes naturally to everyone. A college degree enhances your natural abilities; it doesn't give them to you. Excelling in a particular skill does not mean you can lead a team of people. Managers with the following natural or learned abilities can bring order to chaos:

  1. show competency by being highly organized
  2. can attend to details while not losing sight of the big picture
  3. treat everyone fairly
  4. are reasonable
  5. are lifelong learners who are always looking for and learning about better ways to accomplish the job
  6. are willing to take risks and make changes toward improvement
  7. are respected by others in the organization
  8. Have other skills as appropriate to who or what is being managed


Two Training Principles
In the Online Environment
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Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash

We've been training adults online for over 20 years. We started by sending text to a chat room for real-time interactive learning or publishing tutorials to complete in your own time. The technology has advanced, but two important principles remain the same:

  1. Adults Learn by Doing. Making adults sit in a room where we just talk at them isn't very effective. Showing them an example and then having them do it themselves is most effective. This means not every job can be learned effectively through online training.
  2. Learning Together Bonds a Team. We don't need to see each other in person to bond. We don't need to see each other on video to bond. What we do need is an opportunity and a way to interact. The advantage is employees who will be comfortable supporting each other out in the workplace so will do a better job faster than employees who enter the work environment as strangers.


The Lost Art of a Beautifully Formatted Business Letter
Business Letter

With the ever increasing use of email, the art of the properly formatted business letter is being lost to time. Along with this is the mastery of shorthand. The days of secretaries being called into offices to take dictation in shorthand are dwindling. As a matter of convenience, emails and hard copy letters are written by managers instead of their secretaries, and it shows. A quick lesson is all that is required to improve the presentation.

Learn How to Format a Professional Letter