3 signs that it's time to think about workforce management

It’s obvious that acing workforce management brings along a number of swoon-worthy advantages. But, change is intimidating—thinking about overhauling the way you currently do something (even if it involves jumbled spreadsheets that make your eyes cross) feels overwhelming. With that in mind, we don’t blame you if these questions are rattling through your brain:

‍Is now the time for you to be thinking about workforce management?

Is this something you should prioritize immediately?

Can you push this off until you’re really struggling?
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1. Agent scheduling is becoming really, really hard

As your business grows, you get more customers. As you get more customers, there are more customer support demands and interactions happening. As those interactions increase, you need more support agents—and that’s when customer support scheduling really starts to get messy and headache-inducing. ‍

You’ll know you’re experiencing this if…

• You’re noticing business growth in revenue and customers, but not on your support team
• You’re hiring team leads and overall growing your customer support team
• You’re expanding the team to different offices, and/or expanding your hours of coverage
• You’re incorporating more support channels, especially live ones
• You’re introducing specialization (such as a support team for billing vs. product troubleshooting)

2. You’re aiming for ambitious targets

Your support team is no longer just trying to keep their heads above water. Instead, they’re chasing lofty targets (such as improving response times, as just one example) and you’re keeping a close eye on the metrics to ensure that you’re providing the best service you possibly can. Making that happen requires the right people and resources. ‍

You’ll know you’re experiencing this if…

• You’re starting to set targets for your support team for the first time
• You’re realizing that hitting your targets requires more hands on deck
• You’re implementing processes to organize the team around those metrics

3. Your current systems are falling short 

What worked well for you a couple of months ago might not work as seamlessly now or in the future. As the business and the team grows, you’re bound to see some cracks forming in your existing systems and processes that indicate it’s time for an overhaul.  ‍

You’ll know you’re experiencing this if…

• You’re running into snags with your existing spreadsheet or scheduling tool
• You’re investing hours in tasks that should be painless and straightforward
• You’re frequently encountering scheduling and staffing problems
• You’re noticing that team motivation and morale is waning 
• You’re hearing frequently complaints about schedules and workloads

Photo by eberhard 🖐 grossgasteiger on Unsplash