At-Home Agent

Management
Survey results reported 11/10/2009
At-Home Momentum
With regards to at-home agents, are you:

6%
Not using or
considering at- 11%
home agents
7%

25% Nov-09
Considering at-
home agents
41% Sep-09
48%
Apr-09

69%
Using at-home
48%
agents
45%

All of these survey respondents were registered to attend an at-home webinar, but
even so, the growth of those employing this model is substantial between April
and November.
Engagement Level

Despite other survey results that show a large amount of daily communication with
at-home agents, 46% still said they are less engaged than in-center agents.
This might suggest more tactics than strategy being employed in this arena.
Difficulty Keeping Connected

While most share that they have “average” difficulty connecting agents to various
entities, there seems to be the least difficulty in the Supervisor category. 12%
rank it difficult or extremely difficult, as compared to 30% and 27% ranking
Company and Team as difficult or extremely difficult.
Keeping Agents Connected

At-home agents have the most contact with their supervisors, with 65%
communicating at least daily. Team contact is less frequent, with 50%
communicating daily or more.
At-Home Tools

The prevalence of email raises some concerns about the accessibility of information that agents may
need to reference later. Chat and web meetings were frequently noted as tools for all sorts of
communication. E-learning and social networking show lots of room to grow, especially as the costs
come down with these methods that have shown to be effective.
Processes Adapted for At-Home – Ad-Hoc Meetings

Ad-Hoc Huddles/Team Meetings

Group IM/Chat Room 5

Email 7

IM/Chat 8

In Office 10

Web Meeting 22

Conf Call 37

The next few charts show how respondents are adapting in-center processes with tools available to at-
home agents. Team calls and web meetings are prevalent in ad-hoc and team meetings as two-
way communications. It is interesting that 11% require at-home agents to attend meetings in the
office.
Processes Adapted for At-Home – Raising Hand

Raising Hand for Help

Not Done 1

Group IM/Chat Room 2

Web Meeting 3

Dedicated
16
Number/Queue

Email 16

1to1 Phone 24

IM/Chat 49

When it comes to getting help immediately, the majority of respondents use chat/instant message.
While many use phone, a significant number use a dedicated help line for at-home agents.
Processes Adapted for At-Home – Teammates Help

Asking Teammates for Help

Intranet 2

Group IM/Chat Room 5

Not Done 7

Dedicated
7
Number/Queue

1to1 Phone 16

Email 22

IM/Chat 46

Again, chat and instant message seem to be the most popular way at-home agents get assistance.
The use of email suggests the types of questions asked of teammates are not immediate.
Processes Adapted for At-Home – Supervisor’s Walk

Supervisors Walking Around to Help

Web Meeting 2

Group IM/Chat Room 3

Monitoring 6

Dedicated
7
Number/Queue

Not Done 12

Email 16

1to1 Phone 19

IM/Chat 39

Chat and instant message use are most prevalent in this category, but the use of monitoring comes in
for some supervisors looking to assist. Also, a number of respondents do not have a mechanism
for at-home agents that mirrors the “walk-around” process that many in-center supervisors use.
Processes Adapted for At-Home – Training

Classroom Training

Not Done 1

Email 1

IM/Chat 4

Conf Call 12

Self-Paced eLearning 16

Web Meeting 31

In Office 34

The most interesting thing about this in-center process adapted for at-home is that so many have not
adapted it at all. They still require at-home agents to come into the office for training. Of those who
have, web meetings and self-paced e-learning are the most popular.
Frequency of Connections

How often do home agents participate in the following once they are initially trained?

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Training Scheduled team Ad-hoc huddles/team Communication updates Coaching sessions
meetings meetings

Daily 2-4 times/week Weekly 2-3 times/month Monthly Less than monthly

Training and ad-hoc meetings happen with the least frequency, with around 40% occurring less than
monthly. The highest frequency events are communication updates, by far, with more than 60%
occurring daily.
Supervisor View

With many of these answers hovering around half of responses, it’s clear methods vary when it comes
to managing at-home agents. While 56% receive additional tools, 44% receive additional training on
how to manage them.
Supervisor Qualities

What makes a good supervisor of at-home agents?

Knowledgeable

Detail-Oriented

Multi-Tasking

Flexibility

Tech-Savvy

Organized

Team-Building Skills

Communications

0 10 20 30 40 50
This question invited respondents to write-in the qualities they thought made good supervisors of at-
home agents. These answers were categorized into the above answers. Communication skills was
most frequently given and often was described as written and oral communications. Given the
nature of how teams must be managed in this environment, team building and organization were
also highly ranked.
More Resources on At-Home Agents

Request free white paper:

More benchmark data:

http://www.knowlagent.com/Resource-Center/Call-
Center-Statistics-Pardot.aspx

Webinar related to these results:

Long Time, No See: How to Keep At-Home Agents
Connected

Contact Debbie Dockery for more info:

ddockery@knowlagent.com
About Knowlagent

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around the world have
reduced labor costs with
Knowlagent’s agent
management software.
Hiring
Training
Coaching

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About the Survey

At-Home Webinar registrants asked to

participate
Online survey
Results originally shared during
webinar 11/10/09
253 participants across industries