Most of us would have come across 'On the Job Training' on our professional front, BPO is no exception. The first phase when in a BPO was the class room training with ultimate fun and visuals to enhance the skills required to meet the work standards. As part of the OJT, new hires are made to under-go a cost effective method to gain a real-time experience known as the 'Buddy-up' process wherein each one of the trainees are allocated to an experienced personnel aimed at shortening the 'learning curve cycle'.
There I was, allocated to an experienced agent who was taking a call at ease. The Buddy training started off with a formal introduction between us, whilst on a call guiding one of her clients to resolve a technical fault with the Internet connection. I saw her typing notes on to a tracking tool to log in the incident and the resolution provided as and when possible, every 5 minutes. This activity is a part of the call handling as there is no intervening time between two calls especially when there is heavy traffic. The calls are lined up in a queue and allocated based on the availability of an agent. We would have personally experienced it when we call the Customer service agents and we hear really nice calm music on wait, but the work floor on the other end is not how we think it really is.
On the work floor, I could see agents talking over the phone who differed in attitude, some were cool and poised, few agents were stressful trying hard to please the clients, others had a careless attitude. I had the script in hand and was verifying every step to follow the process, to my dismay the agent did not use any of these and followed her own style. She then explained I could even use my own format, but only after gaining proficiency in call handling which depends on the Customer satisfaction survey taken once the call is done. I could see the agents were multi-tasking, for instance playing (throwing a ball at each other), messaging (done to get info from others who had experienced the same issue before) and sharing a 'munch' (help a buddy eat when on long call) to avoid boredom at the work place. I was also enjoying the atmosphere of the work floor where we were allowed to decorate our own bay colourful enough to keep the spirits high.
When time permitted, my mentor was giving me tips on using the phone effectively, to save time by transferring calls internally to respective departments when the calls are out of our scope. I still remember the time when I was taking notes that she stopped the lecture abruptly as there was a call flashing on the monitor. The mentor started off greeting the customer cheerfully, verified the personal information, then proceeded with the issue. In the midst of the process, she was pissed off and started using the 'F' word, I was startled hearing it, I have only seen people using it in the movies but none by the side of me. I was frightened, looked up at her, she continued using the word with different sentences, I was scared to even look at her. She turned towards me, smiled and asked me to look at the mute button which was 'ON', I let a sigh of relief.
I then learned, almost every one in the floor used the 'F' word to release the accumulating tension, some even crossing the limits. I was wondering what was I doing there, I had learned values when in the class room training but the 'Buddy-up' process only taught me how to use profane languages on the very first day. The next couple of days went fine as the guy who I buddied up with was cool, composed and comfortable to work with. I still wonder, why people use words that are gross to express their disappointment and anger. I have taken so many calls on my own but have never used the word even once. Its upto an individual to say it or not say it, I decided not to say it ever.
There I was, allocated to an experienced agent who was taking a call at ease. The Buddy training started off with a formal introduction between us, whilst on a call guiding one of her clients to resolve a technical fault with the Internet connection. I saw her typing notes on to a tracking tool to log in the incident and the resolution provided as and when possible, every 5 minutes. This activity is a part of the call handling as there is no intervening time between two calls especially when there is heavy traffic. The calls are lined up in a queue and allocated based on the availability of an agent. We would have personally experienced it when we call the Customer service agents and we hear really nice calm music on wait, but the work floor on the other end is not how we think it really is.
On the work floor, I could see agents talking over the phone who differed in attitude, some were cool and poised, few agents were stressful trying hard to please the clients, others had a careless attitude. I had the script in hand and was verifying every step to follow the process, to my dismay the agent did not use any of these and followed her own style. She then explained I could even use my own format, but only after gaining proficiency in call handling which depends on the Customer satisfaction survey taken once the call is done. I could see the agents were multi-tasking, for instance playing (throwing a ball at each other), messaging (done to get info from others who had experienced the same issue before) and sharing a 'munch' (help a buddy eat when on long call) to avoid boredom at the work place. I was also enjoying the atmosphere of the work floor where we were allowed to decorate our own bay colourful enough to keep the spirits high.
When time permitted, my mentor was giving me tips on using the phone effectively, to save time by transferring calls internally to respective departments when the calls are out of our scope. I still remember the time when I was taking notes that she stopped the lecture abruptly as there was a call flashing on the monitor. The mentor started off greeting the customer cheerfully, verified the personal information, then proceeded with the issue. In the midst of the process, she was pissed off and started using the 'F' word, I was startled hearing it, I have only seen people using it in the movies but none by the side of me. I was frightened, looked up at her, she continued using the word with different sentences, I was scared to even look at her. She turned towards me, smiled and asked me to look at the mute button which was 'ON', I let a sigh of relief.
I then learned, almost every one in the floor used the 'F' word to release the accumulating tension, some even crossing the limits. I was wondering what was I doing there, I had learned values when in the class room training but the 'Buddy-up' process only taught me how to use profane languages on the very first day. The next couple of days went fine as the guy who I buddied up with was cool, composed and comfortable to work with. I still wonder, why people use words that are gross to express their disappointment and anger. I have taken so many calls on my own but have never used the word even once. Its upto an individual to say it or not say it, I decided not to say it ever.
I have gone through the same....
ReplyDeleteA very suggestive name "Eureka" I liked the idea.
ReplyDeleteRegards from Brazil:
Geraldo
Thanks Geraldo :)
ReplyDelete