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Contact centres have a huge role to play in the move to remote working. Technically it’s been possible for ages but new integrated contact centre technology makes the job easier. With the role out of the NBN, the Federal government target of 12% of homework and the increasing cost of office accommodation this area will be one of keen focus.

On the surface there are budget savings to be made as less space is required so rents are lower (and power bills) and the agent can save on many things like travel, buying lunch and it’s even been shown that smokers don’t smoke as much when Teleworking! That’s the cost saving and then add in the time saved! A quick internet search will reveal many sites like http://www.globalworkplaceanalytics.com/roi

But just how does the average contact centre manager sort out the issues? How do they manage staff effectively? What happens if performance drops? OH &S issues? How do you keep these staff motivated? The list is endless and the Contact Centre Manager has no guide to turn to. Sure there are some good case studies out there but each organisation is different, each circumstance has different emphasis, and the likelihood is each Manager is doing it for the first time so has no previous experience.

I, like many others, will shortly embark on developing guidelines and procedures for recruiting, selecting, training and managing such workers. So what is your experience, what worked? What didn’t? What are the pitfalls to look for? What was the end result? Looking forward to reading your exploits … and shhhh, I think many others will too!