Now, I wonder, how long did it take you to realise that this problem solving thing wasn’t the biggest part of the role?
Come on… let’s be honest… you know what I’m talking about.
You may be a contact centre manager in title, but we both know this isn’t really your job. No, the reality of your job is that you are A plate-spinning firefighter!
Don’t worry. It will be our secret. Truth is, the overwhelming majority of contact centre managers I talk to – and I talk to A LOT of them through my training and consultancy work up and down the country – share this problem.
You need to keep the team running, steering resourcing, taking escalation calls, working with stakeholders across the business, getting involved in projects, duct-taping inefficient processes, thinking of succession planning, recruitment, improving your processes, reporting your KPIs, working on fixing the KPIs, have ad hoc tasks thrown at you, dealing with people problems… and that’s only the predictable stuff that most organisations have!
It is exhausting, I know. I know because I have been there. I know, because I have helped several of your peers move away from this situation.
Here’s the inconvenient truth: the non-stop stress of being one-step behind and the pressure of not being able to fit everything within your contracted hours? It’s not the only way to be.
As a matter of fact, you could avoid it, very easily. How would it feel, to have a role where you can actually have the time to think, without the risk of having one of the plates you are spinning to drop down the floor and smash, capturing everyone’s attention towards you at the most inconvenient time?
What I have learned over the years is that sometimes, all you need to do to completely transform your workload and the pressure you are feeling isn’t to revolutionise your role or recruit more hands. The solution is to simply stop one of the plates from spinning. Take it off its base and store it in the cupboard. And just like that, the remaining plates will magically spin a lot faster, will be a lot more stable, and require less of your time, like magic – or at least, this is how it would feel.
You’ll them be able to take off your fire-fighter helmet and slow down on the plate spinning and instead resume what you truly wanted out of your career: delivering great customer service to your customers and being a force for good within the organisation, for your customers, for your team, for your stakeholders.
Sounds awesome! How do I get there?
That’s almost as easy as 1-2-3 – call Garry! (that’s me, by the way)
- Let’s figure out together which plates are currently spinning and keeping you under pressure.
- We can then see together which ones could be completely stopped if a dedicated resource focused on solving this challenge permanently (it can be redesigning the process, automating parts of it, anything goes)
- I’ll get working and make sure this plate doesn’t need your attention to keep going
- You stop for a few seconds. Realise there is less for you to worry about. Celebrate.
- Focus your time on creating impactful change for your teams and customers
Believe me, I have seen this movie play out countless times. There is absolutely no need for you to be a plate spinner. Sure, you’ll need to juggle conflicting priorities, like everyone else, but there’s no need for you to be under this much pressure, especially considering how straightforward it is to resolve your problem. All it takes is taking a step back, calling Garry and let me make sure your energy is devoted to where it can deliver the most impact.
Ready to go back to being a contact centre manager? The solution is within reach!
