How to Rise Above Performance Challenges

Sales are low. Customer satisfaction scores are dropping. Customer complaints are increasing.

As leaders, we spend hours looking at the numbers or data trying to figure out what’s going wrong, how to improve, how to turn things around, etc. We feel frustrated, baffled, and drained when we’re unable to identify the root causes or lasting solutions.

The post-Covid19 world coupled with the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war has drastically shifted the dynamics of success. What used to convince customers to make purchases now falls short. What used to satisfy customers is now inadequate. Everything seems topsy-turvy. Our team members are also struggling with these changes, which further worsens performance.

Here are some activities you can leverage to rise above performance challenges.

Communicate 

Communication in the workplace is important because it boosts employee morale, engagement, productivity, and satisfaction. Our team members know when the team is struggling. Keeping silent can be viewed as condescending or non-inclusive. The challenges also can cause a great deal of insecurity in team members, and not talking about them can give rise to unrealistic fears and apprehension.

Speaking with your team and sharing honestly about the challenges and changes will go a long way to spur your team. They feel included, and like partners in the drive for success. They will also share their thoughts, suggestions, and ideas which could help generate new strategies and approaches.

Include the whole team in strategy development 

Include both your management team and your agents. A lot of times we only bring our direct reports, our team leads, supervisors, or managers to the brainstorming sessions. This is because they are usually better equipped at harmonizing organizational objectives with team needs to generate balanced solutions. 

But let’s not overlook our team members. In my experience, agents have unique ideas on how to improve performance or overcome challenges. Their buy-in is also crucial to the success of the strategy, and their participation increases their commitment. According to strategy management expert Arnold Van Der Maas, involving employees is crucial for the quality and success of strategy formation and execution.

Depending on the size of your team, holding brainstorming sessions with your whole team may not be feasible. Break them into smaller groups, hold a workshop during working hours, or have a hackathon over the weekend. This works wonders because your agents feel valued and included.

Extend to other units or departments 

Reach outside the contact center team for input. Speak with colleagues in other departments or units to give insights or collaborate on driving success. Usually when problems are tackled from a holistic point of view rather than solely from an individual team/unit, the strategies are more comprehensive and effective.

According to Fellow, there are four benefits of cross functional collaboration:

• Increased innovation – different perspectives from different people across the company leads to a greater level of innovation.
• Leverage diverse skills and experience – the team learns from one another and can better see how individual tasks fit into the bigger picture of success for the organization
• Foster a more creative environment – a multi-directional approach can result in a larger number of ideas and solutions.
• Challenge old ideas – this thereby increases the pace of change.

Utilize champions 

Use champions within your team to drive new strategies or change management activities. These can be high performers or simply well-liked team members that will cheerlead initiatives, garner support and excitement for new tactics, and drive the success of the new strategies.

The business world is ever-changing. These activities will ensure you have a constant flow of solutions, strategies, ideas, and tactics to overcome the challenges that come. You will continue to achieve success using sustainable activities that foster employee engagement and collaboration.