Workforce Management: The Basics and Beyond

Move beyond operating a workforce management system to adding value and optimizing performance in the contact center through effective analysis – regardless of the tool.

As contact centers become more complex, the importance of having the right staff and supporting resources in the right places at the right time becomes ever more crucial to success. Through ICMI”s Workforce Management: The Basics and Beyond two-day course, you’ll learn how to build upon basic WFM concepts to create a workforce planning culture that drives continuously improving performance.

Using hypothetical data from an imaginary company, the course is taught in a hands-on workshop approach that brings principles to life, encourages participation, and generates results.

The secret of good forecasting is data cleaning, so you’ll start the course by learning the basics and advanced principles needed to improve the quality of your historical data. Using this data, you’ll move on to the basics of forecasting, as well as the advanced topic of cross-over interval forecasting.

Next you’ll focus on staffing and scheduling, including the advanced topics of computer simulations, tiered scheduling and multi-channel scheduling. You’ll get a host of tips for creative scheduling for today’s work environment.

In the real-time management unit, you’ll cover the basics, such as key metrics and intraday adjustments, before tackling the advanced concepts of forecasting expected queue lengths. Using your historical data, you’ll be able to create a real-time management program that allows you to react in advance and be prepared for spikes.

You’ll leave this course with the knowledge to increase the value of the call center to the organization through consistent forecasting accuracy, effective long-term planning. You’ll be equipped to reach operational goals with a clear understanding of the unique call center environment, techniques to manage your queue in real-time, and a plan to meet service levels consistently.

Designed for workforce management directors and managers who need a primer on WFM basics and a crash course in advanced principles in order to:

• Create forecasts with an error rate of 3% or less per interval on a consistent basis.
• Reduce the chaos in the center by producing schedules that anticipate and account for random variation.
• Implement a scheduling process that meets organizational coverage needs and employee flexibility needs.
• Calculate accurate long-term staffing requirements and present them in a way that gets the budget you need.
• Generate higher levels of employee and customer satisfaction.

Course Length and Delivery Method

This course is delivered over two days in a classroom setting.

Course Materials:

• Increasing forecast accuracy
• Preparing more effectively for long-term planning and budgeting
• Reducing the chaos in your center
• Improving the consistency of operational results
• Generating higher levels of employee and customer satisfaction
• Printable Slide Presentation
• Industry Articles
• A Process for Reporting Call Center Activity
• Are You Getting-and Using-the Data You Need?
• Beyond Forecasting and Scheduling: Five Features that Justify a WFM Investment
• Call Center Scheduling: Practical Tips for Today's Environment
• Colorful Staffing Strategies to Add to Your Palette
• Forecast Accuracy: The Most Important Metric You're Not Measuring
• Forescasting and Scheduling: Beyond the Basics
• Implementing Workforce Management Software: Lessons Learned
• Intelligent Workforce Management for Blended Environments
• Maximizing the Value of Your Workforce Management Team
• Real-Time Management...without the Hangover
• Skill-Set Scheduling in a Multiskilled Environment
• The Changing Face of Workforce Management
• The Great Debate: Erlang C or Computer Simulation?
• Understanding How Queues Behave

Cancellation Policy

Please take a moment to read the cancellation policy.