I just returned from a vacation at the beach, and even though I had grand plans for my days away from the office (reading a good book, catching a summer action movie with my wife) I found myself doing something that I wish I did more: observing my 5- & 3-year old children.
Too often I find myself involved in activities with my children where I’m just too close to the action, but this past week I was able to just sit back and watch. And there were some terrific learnings. For instance, my 5-year old is fearless and she’s a leader. She has no problem walking up to children and opening the conversation with a zippy statement, like: “I’m 5 years old & I’ve lost 2 teeth. How many have you lost?”
Also, I learned that my 3-year old is a bit more reserved, but she has an innate sense of humor with a penchant for one-liners & comedic timing that would make the cast of Second City envious. Like when she told her 13-year old cousin to “Lock it up” because he wouldn’t stop talking.
And I learned these little insights from just sitting back and watching … not interjecting every 2 minutes like I normally do!
When I’m not in “vacation mode” I’m always stepping in to assist them, whether it’s settling a disagreement or just helping them clean up. But having an opportunity to simply observe them taught me so much about who they are that I otherwise wouldn’t have learned. And these epiphanies lead me to wonder, Could a similar approach work for supervisors, too?
I mean, the role of the supervisor is one of the most harried jobs in a contact center, and the core of the job, coaching and upskilling staff, often gets pushed aside or is approached in a one-size-fits-all fashion.
But some time away from the daily grind, dedicated to observing their staff in their roles, can provide a tremendous boost to coaching effectiveness.
By observing staff members work, supervisors are able to:
- Better identification of their staff’s strengths and opportunity areas. Just like my experience with my daughters, a little distance from the situation allows supervisors to really see their reps in action.
- Improved coaching interactions & improvement in re performance. Because supervisors now better understand their team members, supervisor focus on tangible development opportunities that truly reflect rep needs – which also strengthens the supervisor’s relationship with their team.
In fact, CCC recently profiled a member who employs a tactic like this, and it’s called a Distraction-Free Development Week. CCC Members: Click here to learn more about this company’s approach to Dedicated Observation.
And while it may sound like a vacation, it’s anything but. During this observation time sups are charged with learning their staff member’s operating/learning styles, which also leads to more productive coaching interactions. And they have a sound structure in place to help ensure that the observation period is focused, distraction-free & results in positive outcomes. Plus, they’ve found that this observation time has resulted in boosts to frontline productivity, which was the initiative’s chief aim.
Now that I’m back to work again, I know that I’ll be able to use my nuggets of knowledge about my kids in future parenting interactions. And that’s a heckuva lot more exciting than some summer action flick.
CCC Members: Click here to access the CCC-developed Coaching Starter Guide & Coaching Prep Plan to provide your supervisors with tools and guidance on observing their reps.
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