www.globalservices.bt.com Open in urlscan Pro
193.113.10.24  Public Scan

Form analysis
1 forms found in the DOM

https://s560503711.t.eloqua.com/e/f2

<form id="contactform" action="https://s560503711.t.eloqua.com/e/f2">
  <!-- production runmode -->
  <input name="elqFormName" value="web_lead_form" type="hidden">
  <input value="560503711" type="hidden" name="elqSiteId">
  <input type="hidden" name="elqCustomerGUID" value="">
  <input type="hidden" name="elqCookieWrite" value="0">
  <input type="hidden" id="countryListPath" value="/content/cq:tags/globalservices/countries">
  <input type="hidden" id="formRedirectURL" name="formRedirectURL" value="https://www.globalservices.bt.com/en/insights/blogs/from-agents-to-zedonks-the-challenges-of-the-future-hybrid-contact-centre.html">
  <input type="hidden" id="currentlocale" name="currentlocale" value="en">
  <label id="hrTestLabel">Do not enter text in this field if you are a real human<input id="hrTest" type="text" name="HRTest" value=""></label>
  <input id="haagf71jx0gyd6it1me0xg_submitEloq" aria-label="Submit" type="submit" style="display: none;" name="submitEloq">
</form>

Text Content

YOUR BROWSER IS OUT OF DATE AND DOESN'T SUPPORT THE LATEST STANDARDS FOR SECURE
BROWSING.

Please update your browser to a later version by 30 October 2019, when we are
discontinuing support. More information


PERSONALISE YOUR EXPERIENCE


GET THE LATEST INSIGHTS RELEVANT TO YOUR SECTOR.

 * All sectors
   
 * Automotive
 * Banking
 * Business services
 * Financial services
 * Insurance
 * International government
 * Life sciences
 * Manufacturing
 * Media and technology
 * Natural resources and utilities
 * Retail and consumer goods
 * Systems integration
 * Telecommunications
 * Transport and logistics

I don't want to personalise my experience
Skip to main content Skip to primary navigation Skip to search Skip to footer
 * For the home
 * For business and public sector
 * For global business
 * Coronavirus

English
English Français Deutsch Español Italiano Türkiye 中国 日本
 * All sectors


Menu Close

Search for

 * SOLUTIONS

 * INSIGHTS

 * ABOUT US

 * For the home
 * For business and public sector
 * For global business
 * Coronavirus
 * All sectorsAutomotiveBankingBusiness servicesFinancial
   servicesInsuranceInternational governmentLife sciencesManufacturingMedia and
   technologyNatural resources and utilitiesRetail and consumer goodsSystems
   integrationTelecommunicationsTransport and logistics

 * FIRST BREAD

 * SECOND BREAD


 * My Account
   
 * English Français Deutsch Español Italiano Türkiye 中国 日本



MENU

SEARCH

CLOSE


Search for

 * First Bread
 * Second Bread

 * SOLUTIONS

 * INSIGHTS

 * ABOUT US





Change the default language of our website

You can now continue to a version of our site in your chosen language.

Cancel selection Continue to site

Back to

Blog · 25 Nov 2021


FROM AGENTS TO ZEDONKS: THE CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE HYBRID CONTACT CENTRE


HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR CONTACT CENTRE RUNNING SMOOTHLY AS A ‘CENTRE’ WHEN YOUR
AGENTS AREN’T ALL TOGETHER AND SOME ARE OUT WORKING IN THE ‘WILD’?

By Dr Nicola Millard
Principal innovation partner




WHEN IT COMES TO THE SO-CALLED ‘HYBRID’ WORKPLACE, ONE OF THE MOST DISCUSSED
TOPICS IS “HOW MANY DAYS SHOULD WE BE IN AN OFFICE VS. AT HOME?”

Oddly enough, this isn’t a question which preoccupies my favourite hybrid: the
zedonk – a charming (and rare) mash up of donkey and zebra. It doesn’t spend
three days a week as a zebra and two days as a donkey, because it spends all its
time being a different breed. And that’s what hybrid work is. It isn’t about the
numbers of days in the office – it’s about getting work done, wherever and
whenever you happen to be. The focus is the work, not where or when the work is
done.


THE RISE OF THE DECENTRALISED CONTACT ‘CENTRE’

The hybrid conversation hasn’t bypassed the contact centre industry. Until the
pandemic hit there was some reticence to embrace a model that wasn’t a contact
‘centre’, despite decentralised technologies such as cloud, collaboration and
connectivity challenging that logic. Even though the number of home-based agents
was gradually increasing globally, concerns around trust and security -
especially around customer data – were holding the industry back. This changed
almost overnight, as lockdown orders forced many contact centres to lift and
shift agents from their secure, ergonomic environments to working off a table in
their living room, an ironing board in their bedroom, or a laptop on their sofa.

This worked better than many people expected. Customers in our recent Autonomous
Customer research even thought that service had improved over a number of key
performance indicators during the pandemic. Agents also embraced the idea of a
future hybrid model for contact centres - with 71% of them in the Autonomous
Customer survey saying that they would like to work from home at least some of
the time.

The big question in a hybrid model then is: “what function does the physical
office/contact centre play?”


REPLICATING A PHYSICAL CONNECTION DIGITALLY

Work is very much a social activity. Work without social integration doesn’t
improve productivity. This is well illustrated by research from Professor Sandy
Pentland at M.I.T. His work on ‘social physics’ showed that giving agents a team
coffee break together during the day improved productivity stats across the
board. This is because the contact centre environment itself provides an
informal ‘community of coping’.

This is especially important because contact centre work can be stressful.
Agents often take abuse from customers for things that they’re not responsible
for. Our research showed that customers were not only more impatient, stressed
and sometimes downright rude during the pandemic (mostly because they were
having to cope with a pandemic), but they were asking questions which were more
complex to answer. Two thirds (69%) of agents also reported a hike in contact
complexity, with 29% saying that they needed to have a discussion with a
colleague or team leader to resolve one in five of their customer calls, emails
or chats.

This is relatively easy if all you have to do is swivel around on your chair and
flag a colleague or team leader down. However, when agents are working in a
hybrid model, this connection needs to be replicated digitally for all agents
through collaboration, knowledge management, and agent assistance tools.

Contact centres have a unique advantage over many other knowledge work
environments in that both work demand and productivity metrics are very visible
wherever agents are – queues, call handling times, time in wrap, time available
and recordings of contacts are all available to team leaders and, to a certain
extent, the broader team. The bit that’s missing is going beyond the stats and
managing agents’ emotional wellbeing. When you can see tears, frustration or
anger it’s easy – if you can’t, it requires a very open, trusting and honest
channel of communication between team member and team leader.


GROWING CONCERN AROUND AGENT WELLBEING

This is why some of the findings of the Autonomous Customer research were
particularly worrying – especially in the UK. UK agents were reporting
significantly more anxiety, less understanding from colleagues, and lower
satisfaction than their US and Indian counterparts. This even spilled over to
satisfaction with technology – with UK agents ranking their technology
effectiveness 22% lower than their Indian and 8% lower than their US
equivalents. This may have simply been a question of lockdown fatigue (the
survey was done during a second protracted lockdown period in much of the UK),
or a legacy of solutions which had been cobbled together quickly but hadn’t been
made more robust as the weeks became months. However, it may also demonstrate
the impact that virtual working can have on individuals who didn’t choose to do
it, and where communities of coping were not functioning well.

Although our research showed that team leaders felt a closer connection with
their team members during the pandemic because they got to see them over video
in the ‘wild’ (including judging their taste in wallpaper, meeting their
children, and cooing over their pets), many of them had to work especially hard
to create a sense of ‘teamworking’ in a virtual environment. Leadership by
walking around and sit-by coaching is pretty much impossible. This is
complicated further in a hybrid environment as teams are split between the
virtual and physical world. ‘Out of sight’ can easily translate into ‘out of
mind’ – so-called ‘proximity bias’. For hybrid team leaders, this means that
they need to make sure that any team celebrations, briefings or beginning/end of
shift huddles include everyone, regardless of where they are.


DESIGN WORK AROUND YOUR PEOPLE

This is easier said than done – and hybrid can be a challenging model to get
right. Although it’s underpinned by the collaboration, connectivity and cloud
technologies that we’ve come to rely on during the pandemic, it does mean that
we need to stop designing work around location and start designing it around
people. This flexibility can be beneficial for both the customer and employee
experience. However, we need to develop digital-first business models and
mindsets to support all this.

The pandemic has just been the catalyst for this journey into the future world
of work. It’s highly likely that not everything is going to go smoothly, so an
experimental mindset is vital. Let’s saddle up the zedonk and hold on tightly.

Take a look at our latest whitepaper, to find out how you can create the ideal
hybrid working environment for your contact centre agents.

infographic


HYBRID WORKING

Find out why


WHEN IT COMES TO THE SO-CALLED ‘HYBRID’ WORKPLACE, ONE OF THE MOST DISCUSSED
TOPICS IS “HOW MANY DAYS SHOULD WE BE IN AN OFFICE VS. AT HOME?”

Oddly enough, this isn’t a question which preoccupies my favourite hybrid: the
zedonk – a charming (and rare) mash up of donkey and zebra. It doesn’t spend
three days a week as a zebra and two days as a donkey, because it spends all its
time being a different breed. And that’s what hybrid work is. It isn’t about the
numbers of days in the office – it’s about getting work done, wherever and
whenever you happen to be. The focus is the work, not where or when the work is
done.


THE RISE OF THE DECENTRALISED CONTACT ‘CENTRE’

The hybrid conversation hasn’t bypassed the contact centre industry. Until the
pandemic hit there was some reticence to embrace a model that wasn’t a contact
‘centre’, despite decentralised technologies such as cloud, collaboration and
connectivity challenging that logic. Even though the number of home-based agents
was gradually increasing globally, concerns around trust and security -
especially around customer data – were holding the industry back. This changed
almost overnight, as lockdown orders forced many contact centres to lift and
shift agents from their secure, ergonomic environments to working off a table in
their living room, an ironing board in their bedroom, or a laptop on their sofa.

This worked better than many people expected. Customers in our recent Autonomous
Customer research even thought that service had improved over a number of key
performance indicators during the pandemic. Agents also embraced the idea of a
future hybrid model for contact centres - with 71% of them in the Autonomous
Customer survey saying that they would like to work from home at least some of
the time.

The big question in a hybrid model then is: “what function does the physical
office/contact centre play?”


REPLICATING A PHYSICAL CONNECTION DIGITALLY

Work is very much a social activity. Work without social integration doesn’t
improve productivity. This is well illustrated by research from Professor Sandy
Pentland at M.I.T. His work on ‘social physics’ showed that giving agents a team
coffee break together during the day improved productivity stats across the
board. This is because the contact centre environment itself provides an
informal ‘community of coping’.

This is especially important because contact centre work can be stressful.
Agents often take abuse from customers for things that they’re not responsible
for. Our research showed that customers were not only more impatient, stressed
and sometimes downright rude during the pandemic (mostly because they were
having to cope with a pandemic), but they were asking questions which were more
complex to answer. Two thirds (69%) of agents also reported a hike in contact
complexity, with 29% saying that they needed to have a discussion with a
colleague or team leader to resolve one in five of their customer calls, emails
or chats.

This is relatively easy if all you have to do is swivel around on your chair and
flag a colleague or team leader down. However, when agents are working in a
hybrid model, this connection needs to be replicated digitally for all agents
through collaboration, knowledge management, and agent assistance tools.

Contact centres have a unique advantage over many other knowledge work
environments in that both work demand and productivity metrics are very visible
wherever agents are – queues, call handling times, time in wrap, time available
and recordings of contacts are all available to team leaders and, to a certain
extent, the broader team. The bit that’s missing is going beyond the stats and
managing agents’ emotional wellbeing. When you can see tears, frustration or
anger it’s easy – if you can’t, it requires a very open, trusting and honest
channel of communication between team member and team leader.


GROWING CONCERN AROUND AGENT WELLBEING

This is why some of the findings of the Autonomous Customer research were
particularly worrying – especially in the UK. UK agents were reporting
significantly more anxiety, less understanding from colleagues, and lower
satisfaction than their US and Indian counterparts. This even spilled over to
satisfaction with technology – with UK agents ranking their technology
effectiveness 22% lower than their Indian and 8% lower than their US
equivalents. This may have simply been a question of lockdown fatigue (the
survey was done during a second protracted lockdown period in much of the UK),
or a legacy of solutions which had been cobbled together quickly but hadn’t been
made more robust as the weeks became months. However, it may also demonstrate
the impact that virtual working can have on individuals who didn’t choose to do
it, and where communities of coping were not functioning well.

Although our research showed that team leaders felt a closer connection with
their team members during the pandemic because they got to see them over video
in the ‘wild’ (including judging their taste in wallpaper, meeting their
children, and cooing over their pets), many of them had to work especially hard
to create a sense of ‘teamworking’ in a virtual environment. Leadership by
walking around and sit-by coaching is pretty much impossible. This is
complicated further in a hybrid environment as teams are split between the
virtual and physical world. ‘Out of sight’ can easily translate into ‘out of
mind’ – so-called ‘proximity bias’. For hybrid team leaders, this means that
they need to make sure that any team celebrations, briefings or beginning/end of
shift huddles include everyone, regardless of where they are.


DESIGN WORK AROUND YOUR PEOPLE

This is easier said than done – and hybrid can be a challenging model to get
right. Although it’s underpinned by the collaboration, connectivity and cloud
technologies that we’ve come to rely on during the pandemic, it does mean that
we need to stop designing work around location and start designing it around
people. This flexibility can be beneficial for both the customer and employee
experience. However, we need to develop digital-first business models and
mindsets to support all this.

The pandemic has just been the catalyst for this journey into the future world
of work. It’s highly likely that not everything is going to go smoothly, so an
experimental mindset is vital. Let’s saddle up the zedonk and hold on tightly.

Take a look at our latest whitepaper, to find out how you can create the ideal
hybrid working environment for your contact centre agents.


Do not enter text in this field if you are a real human
Thank you
A contact request has been sent, a specialist will be in touch via email soon.


CONTACT

Would you like to talk to a specialist?
Contact us Contact us


Cancel
1/6

Contact
Would you like to talk to a specialist?
My name is
first name
Press enter

surname
Press enter

I'm a your job title at your company name in country
Would you like to talk to a specialist? My name is
I'm a
your job title
Press enter

at your company name in country I'm interested in Please enter details
My name is I'm a
at
your company name
Press enter


in
country


I'm interested in Please enter details Contact me at your business email
I'm a at in
I'm interested in
Please enter details
Press enter
0/200

Contact me at your business email  
at in I'm interested in
Contact me at
your business email
Press enter
<b>Error</b> Please enter a valid email address
   
My name is
and I'm a
at in I'm interested in Contact me at
Information provided will be treated in accordance of our privacy policy
I'm interested in receiving additional information regarding BT I'm interested
in receiving additional information regarding BT
Contact us
Cancel
Cancel
My name is
first name
Press enter

surname
Press enter

I'm a
your job title
Press enter

at
your company name
Press enter

in
Choose option ...
AfghanistanArgentinaAustraliaAustriaBahreinBarbadosBelgiumBrazilBulgariaCanadaChadChileChinaColombiaCosta
RicaCroatiaCubaCzech RepublicCôte d'IvoireDenmarkDominican
RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl
SalvadorEstoniaEthiopiaFinlandFranceGermanyGhanaGreeceGuatemalaHondurasHong
KongHungaryIndiaIndonesiaIrelandIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJordanKenyaKorea
(South)KuwaitLatviaLebanonLibyaLithuaniaLuxembourgMalaysiaMaldivesMexicoMoroccoNepalNetherlandsNew
ZealandNicaraguaNigeriaNorwayOmanPakistanPanamaPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalPuerto
RicoQatarRomaniaRussiaSan MarinoSaudi ArabiaSerbiaSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSouth
AfricaSpainSri LankaSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandTaiwan province of
ChinaTanzaniaThailandTrinidad TobagoTunisiaTurkeyUkraineUnited Arab
EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesVenezuelaVietnamZimbabwe
I'm interested in
Please enter details
0/200
Press enter

Contact me at
your business email
Press enter

Information provided will be treated in accordance of our privacy policy
I'm interested in receiving additional information regarding BT I'm interested
in receiving additional information regarding BT
Contact us


RELATED CONTENT


Topic


CUSTOMER CONTACT

Read more
Blog


FIGURING OUT THE FUTURE OF WORK

The indications are that people want more choice for the future of work - what
matters will be how employees work, not where.

Read more
past webinar


HYBRID HEADACHES WEBINAR SERIES

 * LocationOnline
 * Date 10 Jun 2021
   

Register now
 1. 
 2. 

 1. Previous
 2. Next
    


 * 
 * 
 * 

 * For the home
 * For business and public sector
 * For global business
 * BT Group



 * Legal disclaimer
 * Regulatory and legal statements
 * Privacy policy
 * Cookies
 * Accessibility
 * Contact us
 * Careers
 * Sitemap

© BT 2021

×






Feedback