Managing Your Operation in Times

of Turmoil

Larisa Joy Reilly Thomas

Have a Plan But Be

Prepared to Throw It Out

Don’t Forget the People

Communicate Up, Down &

Out

Management Team Changes

Diversity of Responsibilities

Expanding Infrastructure

Technology

Adhering to Contractual Obligations

Business Information

Hiring & Retention

Training & Development

New Manager Brought in to Implement Expansion• Moved department into new call center space,

• Doubled size of call center

Inexperienced Management Team• Assistant Managers had little to no supervisory experience

• High Turnover on Management Team

Refinement of Processes and Operations

• More experienced management team hired allowed us to manage a larger staff in more sophisticated manner

Learning How to Problem Solve on the Fly

• Focusing on making decisions quickly and efficiently

Ma

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Reaching Capacity of Physical Space

Purchased New Phone System/Data Monitoring

Expanded Networking

Utilize a combination of Fiber, T1 lines and wireless

Choosing New Reservations Systems

Building New Websites

Kinks with Data Monitoring

System Failures

Website Outages

Phone system outages

Utility Failures

Accomplished Growth with Little Software SupportEx

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In

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ISO Certification (International Organization for Standardization)

• Achieved ISO 9001 certification for Quality Management Principles

Policies, Procedures and KPIs as Required by Contract

Immediate Ramp Up of Business

• $30-40 million in Revenue Year 1

No Data Sharing from Previous Concessionaires

Inability to Properly Forecast Business Needs

• Did not have the historical data to properly forecast expectations for call volume or salesA

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Customer Focus

Leadership

Involvement of People

Factual Approach to Decisions

Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships

System Approach to Management

Continual Improvement

Process Approach

Hir

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& R

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Tra

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Dev

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Hiring Decisions – Learning How to Hire Better and Smarter

• Behavioral and situational interview questions

• Multi-faceted recruiting strategy using several sources

Rapid Turnover• Agents seemed to turnover in groups

Dedicated, Tight-Knit Group of Highly Skilled Agents• Increasingly skilled

• Consistently recommend friends to come and work for the call center

Nostalgic Resistance• With a tight knit group, also had resistance to change early on

Training Materials Developed On the Fly

Implementation of Online Training Classes

Have a Plan But Be

Prepared to Throw It Out

Don’t Forget the People

Communicate Up, Down &

Out

Have a Plan to Get Started

• Clear and firm guiding set of principles

Track What Happens

• It’s important to track what happens, as it’s happening

But If It’s Not Working, React and Adapt

• Everyone needs to be flexible

• Conditions constantly fluctuate during operational change

Have a Plan But Be Prepared to Throw It Out

Don’t Lose Sight of Your Agents

• Use effective coaching to provide clear direction and make it a safe place for everyone to work

• Provide them with the tools to cope with them when they do happen

Be Kind to Your Customers Throughout

• Your customers don’t know about the challenges you are facing

• Your customers don’t care about the challenges you are facing

Prepare the staff to deal with unexpected system breakdowns

• Don’t just warn them that they will happen

Don’t Forget the People

Communicate to All Levels

• Your staff needs to know what is going on – for your peace of mind and theirs

• Empower your staff to fix the problems they can

• Always show your staff how much you appreciate their hard work

Make Sure the People in Authority Know What’s Going On

• Keeping upper management involved and informed will do two things

• Allows them to empower you to fix the problems as you can

• They have the ability to stimulate other departments if they are the ones responsible for fixing the problems

Keep Your Customers Informed

• Provide them with realistic expectations

• Make sure you apologize for any inconveniences

Communicate Up, Down & Out