Time and time again, contact centers are always highly encouraged to have the latest digital technology and follow the trends to “keep up with the times”. But truthfully, it still boils down to the most important asset of a contact center — its employees. Contact center agents, in particular, play the most crucial roles in customer engagement, service, experience and satisfaction. They are rightfully considered as the backbone of contact center operations. As a result, he/she usually deals with stress, taxing on both the body and mind. Agents need key ways implemented to keep them happy and engaged. 

On the other hand, the same goes with a contact center manager and certainly experiences the same or even higher amounts of stress. Upper management, day in and day out, deals with issues and experiences more pressure to keep the contact center intact and operational.
Contact center managers require a lot of quality or traits to be considered effective leaders. He/she must have the necessary skills to strategize, make difficult decisions for the better of the company, encourage high agent retention rates, lead and motivate agents to do better and more. They (i.e., their leadership) are needed more than ever by agents now that the pandemic is still looming and remote working is prominent in the contact center industry.
Keep in mind that that is only the bare minimum. There are still some main traits contact center managers should possess to be more successful. Below, we share 4 important features that a contact center manager should have in a more detailed manner.

1- Being an effective leader in general
Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric and renowned business executive, said that “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” 
Of course, the first thing contact center managers should work on is their leadership skills or abilities. Leading a contact center is no easy feat and requires patience and making the right decisions. Not only that, but they must solve or at least mitigate the long-time and common problem of contact centers, which is a high turnover and low retention rate of agents/employees, especially in this “new normal” which has borne new kinds of issues.

Contact center managers with great leadership skills demonstrate it by spearheading a good work ethic which involves listening to their agents and allotting time to hear them out, boosting morale, challenges agents to do better in an inspirational way and many more.
 
2-Making the right decisions
As mentioned above, making tough decisions is a crucial skill that is needed in a contact center manager. They cannot pass on responsibility to others and must take it upon themselves. Contact center managers should act decisively and always take initiative. Moreover, before making any significant decisions that can affect the company entirely, they should brainstorm it with everyone involved — communication is vital.

Do they proceed or fall back? Should they take this particular course or walk on another? A sound decision should be made based on logic, intuition and especially evidence by contact center managers.

3-Organization
Without question, a person cannot become a contact center manager without being organized. Contact center managers naturally have a lot more on their plate (i.e., multiple tasks) that they need to take care of compared to the agents. Additionally, they also have bigger, more complex ones in which they need poise to handle them. So, a feature that a contact center manager should have is being organized at all times.
Organized contact center managers know that the lack thereof will lead to a fully-operational and smooth contact center and a questioning of their credibility. 

Handle multiple tasks and learn to do them in a more efficient and time-saving way, first and foremost. Help agents when needed, as they may encounter some issues. Finally, if need be, intervene when certain issues arise between agent and customer and try to resolve. An organized contact center manager will never contribute to and even reduce errors, therefore maintaining a smooth-running contact center.

4-Critical thinking
This feature that a contact center manager should have is related to making the right decisions. Critical thinking is required and, in turn, requires the ability to decide without considering emotions and instead based on the best course of action. High levels of stresses will also require contact center managers to adapt and develop critical thinking skills. 
They must also know how to handle angry and dissatisfied customers (customer-centric approach should be kept in mind) without their emotions getting the best of them. And finally, they must know how to resolve agents’ problems or any other issues that require their intervention.

Tegsoft: Communication Software to Make You Happy

Tegsoft is a well-designed platform capable of helping companies provide the best customer experience. This can truly help in establishing good to great contact centers, capable of almost everything it intends to do! 
Truly, the best contact center managers also deserve to use the best communication software. As call or contact centers continue to improve, so does Tegsoft’s technology. Contact us to learn more.