Everyone is trying to make sense of a forever changed world. People are confused, lost, desperate, anxious, scared, hopeful and just hanging on.
So many individuals who normally perform their daily duties often unheard or unseen have been called upon to take a step forward as their skills and experience are required to help at this time. To all of these dedicated people and organisations doing their bit, doing more - take a bow, we applaud your efforts and your sacrifice - we salute you.
If the tireless efforts and patience of contact center staff have gone unrecognised in the past – prepare for a big change.
Contact centers and support staff are currently grappling with never before experienced volumes of service calls amid the Coronavirus pandemic with public uncertainty, panic and sudden need for information, support and guidance.
It’s not just politicians, notaries and physicians called upon who answer the public cry – it’s our call center workers. And we applaud each of you!
Photo cred: Anna-m.w for Pexels
We know many of our clients are currently busy stemming the increased demand on their staff and navigating complex new inquiries to service customers with a range of concerns, issues and needs.
Their staff are updating information instantly, accessing and learning new and emerging procedures, and familiarising with new guidelines and documents as they become available using the knowledge management system they have in place. Updates to the COVID-19 pandemic happen frequently and daily so managing the process of communicating information and updating business responses as each update occurs is the full time, full-on expectation these agents are coping will.
Some call centers, especially those based offshore may be facing shut-down, lock-down or even closure due to each country’s specific set of laws and guidelines. It’s so important customers consider what these individual workers might be facing, and approach each contact with patience, and consideration. While some centers struggle under the barrage, others are showing their resilience and preparedness with digital platforms showing their true worth. The need to update, relocate and remote purpose workstations, teams and management has meant a huge adjustment – but guess what? We are adjusting. We’re learning too.
We know that unique circumstances require unique solutions and a crisis doesn’t have to be the Armageddon it can seem at first glance.
With the right kind of platform in place, you’ll be prepared for a whole plethora of possible scenarios that whilst unexpected, will be manageable. Your ship will stay afloat – your crew will be ready!
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We have also found that the knowledge we need to cope and face this altered state of working conditions is coming from the unexpected and often unseen members of the workforce.
Part-time, casual and full-time working mums are sharing their knowledge and experience of juggling home and work life, of working from home with little ones in their domain, of using what you have to make a quick family meal at the end of the day – of staying sane.
Introverts are teaching us to manage isolation by sharing ways to stay focused on tasks, to pass time and to communicate without face to face interaction.
Project managers have been thrust into the epicenter of their organisations. It’s time to recognise the ones who keep the peace, who tie ideas together, who manage personality clashes within teams and create the roadmaps for our products, presentations, and proposals. Your project managers may be called upon to investigate and implement new digital solutions be it knowledge management platforms, electronic payment schemes, social communication tools, development working groups and virtual meeting software. They have so much knowledge to absorb, decipher and offer – thank you to project managers and project teams for keeping it all together.
Accounts staff are keeping payments going despite the massive changes to procedures and to cashflow. If you’re still getting paid, it’s because one of more of your team are ensuring that is made possible and the button is pushed. They may be learning new systems on the fly or sitting with toddlers are their feet while they ensure your pay still goes through on time – please don’t forget them. They’re the first people you think of when the money stops coming, but whilst it’s still there, they are working hard to make that happen.
Your IT staff and devs are also working overtime (literally) to ensure your systems stay updated and functional, that support tickets are answered and that each of you needing help configuring a new work station, security protocol or communication interface or intranet are able to do so.
These people are sharing their knowledge while still performing their job functions – say thank you!
Photo credit: Polina Zimmerman
Baristas are now more coveted members of the household than ever before, keeping up their skills by delivering piping hot, delicious caffeine treats to those working within the same walls. If you are lucky enough to have one of these divine humans in your home, count yourselves very lucky indeed. The rest of us will make do with our poor cafetiere and filtered coffee skills, or sipping on the instant, yet lifesaving Moccona that shows up on my desk twice a day – usually both before 10am.
These are just a few of the people that often go about their business quietly and without praise and there are many more people within our organisations we need to thank. You likely fit into one of the categories of people doing an amazing job right now just keeping up with work and keeping up with life. To each of you, we applaud your efforts, your resilience and your dedication. Each of you is learning and adjusting to a new situation and you’ll be a better multi-tasker and communicator come the end of it all – not to mention, hard as nails.
Everyone who is holding on to a positive attitude and getting on with life as best they can – take a bow. Stay healthy, focused and in contact with each other.
Our team is still here and we’re happy to discuss the ways in which our platform can help you work better remotely, individually and proactively.
If you’d like to chat to one of our amazing humans – give us a call or email, we’d love to hear a new voice. In the meantime, enjoy this video and contact us if you have any questions about how Knowledge Management can help your organization.
Frontline Teams and Distributed Operations from KnowledgeIQ on Vimeo.
