Call center managers are the backbone of any organization offering customer service. Without their leadership and skillsets, it would be impossible to maintain the company’s vision and goals and keep the staff members motivated. But what are the most important call center manager skills? In this document, we’ll highlight the 11 essential skills and qualities for a call center manager job. We’ll also cover how to hire the right manager for your company by creating a detailed call center manager job description. Original Blog: https://biz30.timedoctor.com/call-center-manager-skills/

1. Source: Time Doctor’s Blog - “ABC Method Time Management : What it is & How to Implement”
11 Must-Have Skills
to be an Effective Call
Center Manager
Source: Time Doctor’s Blog - “11 Must-Have Skills to be an Effective Call Center Manager”

2. Call center managers are the backbone of any
organization offering customer service.
Without their leadership and skillsets, it would be
impossible to maintain the company’s vision and goals
and keep the staff members motivated.
11 Must-Have Call Center Manager Skills
Here’re the 11 skills and abilities that every call center manager must
possess.

3. 1. Ensure Exceptional Customer Service
Excellent project time management leads to
efficient use of one’s time.
1
2
Mentor call center agents on developing exceptional
customer service skills.
Resolve escalated customer service issues at the earliest
3 Communicate internally to resolve customer issues faster.
Customer service entails offering assistance to every existing
and potential customer.
It includes answering their calls promptly, resolving customer
inquiries or complaints, and providing guidance on any issue.
4
Introduce monitoring processes for agent teams to ensure
that they meet the required service levels of customer service.
The ultimate purpose of
customer service is to build
strong relationships with
every customer so that
they keep coming back to
you.
5
Offer industry knowledge and training to any agent who
needs help in providing better customer satisfaction.

4. 2. Focus on Training and Development
Based on findings, they can help agents create an
development plan. It’s a document outlining the knowledge
skills and abilities an agent needs to inculcate for succeeding
in their careers.
The call center manager job requires individuals to ensure continuous
improvement of workflows and processes.For this, they first need to monitor
agents’ performance consistently and identify any skill gaps.
They can also offer focused training to each agent for improving their
performance and time management.
Customer service manager should be able to provide technical
training to any call center representative. After, all manager’s success
depends on the whole team working under them.
Schedule different training sessions for the call center staff that’ll help them
bridge the skill gaps affecting current workflow.

5. 3. Create Efficient and Effective Procedures
Define standard operating procedures for call center
compliance.
Assist in creating a call center strategy that helps achieve
company goals.
Establish processes for customer acquisition and retention through
inbound and outbound calls
1
2
.
A call center follows several procedures to ensure that every agent
delivers exceptional customer service.
Essentially, a call center manager must establish procedures that improve
the center’s efficiency and help set a good precedent for future employees.
Here’re some of the deliverables mentioned in the job description of a call
center manager.
3
Conduct performance assessments of the call center staff according
to established performance KPIs processes and standards
4
Enforce and document corrective actions on any agent who
violates the center’s policies.
5

6. 4. Excel at Workforce Management
This activates the shipment process.
The customer receives the product.
The order is closed.
T
Identify the employees, tools, materials and
other resources required for each project task.
You could use Pareto Principle,
also known as the 80-20 rule. It states that 80%
of the results should come from 20% of your
effort. It means you need to prioritize the 20% of
tasks that will achieve the highest outputs.
Ensure that tasks are relevant to overarching goals
and delegate tasks to the right people for
maximum resource utilization.
Have clear deadlines and set priorities just for
daily goals but also for long - term goals.
Moreover, they should be
comfortable using
workforce management
software like Time
Doctor
Workforce management in a call center implies achieving and maintaining operational efficiency by
having the right number of agents with the right skills to answer customer calls.
For this reason, workforce management is also a part of the call center manager’s job description.
01 Manage intraday call centre operations
02 Forecast the volume of incoming calls and staffing needs.
01 Utilize the forecasted data to create call center representative schedules.
04 Set agent targets and KPIs.
Assign agents to schedules based on their skills and preferences.
05
Develop and implement necessary changes to meet or exceed service levels.
06
Document track and report every customer interaction to the center’s director and
quality department.
07
Facilitate a conducive work environment to create a healthy and competitive
workforce.
08

7. 5. Help achieve service levels and goals
You break down daily tasks by prioritizing them
based on importance and urgency.
A call center supervisor can help
achieve sales goals by:
These include tasks
which are less important
and should be completed
when time is available.
Service level is the performance measurement of a system or service. In a call
or contact center, it’s the measurement of customer service provided over a
specific period. On the other hand, sales goals are the set of objectives that the
customer service team must achieve to make profits for the company.
Achieving the required service levels and sales goals is part of the call center
manager job. Here’s how a call center manager can help achieve service levels:
1
2
3
4
Review and enforce service- level agreements for a
client.
Help the team generate end -user surveys and solicit
inputs from customers.
Help the team attain service levels in terms of quality of
customer service, availability of agents for incoming calls.
etc.
Promote a productivity driven environment through recognition
programs to help achieve service -level goals.
Offering work opportunities and mentoring the call
center staff to meet and exceed aggressive sales goals.
Motivating direct reports to achieve company sales
goals through peer competition and individual skill
development.
Supervising daily operations of direct reports to
ensure that their actions align with the
company goals.

8. Every call or contact center constantly
experiences changes with regards to new tools,
processes, leadership, or business goals.
6. Manage Change and Conflict
1
2
While implementing any change, the role of a manager is to ensure
minimal disruption in the call center management so that agent can
focus on their customers.
3
Call center manager should be ready to adopt a strategic approach that
involves education, training, performance management, and extensive
communication.
This can help each agent and team quickly adapt to the evolving
work environment.
Nachkontrolle or ‘N’ refers to recording and analyzing your
weekly schedule based on the previous steps to
understand how your teams can be even more productive.
Whether the conflict is between two
call center employees or an agitated
customer, a call center supervisor
should be able to handle such issues
swiftly and ensure positive
outcomes.
N

9. 7. Demonstrate Leadership
Employers can promote this balance by
encouraging employees to take regular
breaks.
If you have employees who have been
working without leave for an extended time,
suggest they take a vacation to recharge.
A great call center manager should be a self-starter when taking the
initiative or staying disciplined at work.
A team leader should
strive to create a working
environment that
challenges and inspires
every employee.
They should also be
read to lead the call
center staff through
training, mentoring and
performance
management.
For example, they can
recognize, and reward top
performers,set smaller and
SMART goals for individual
agents or help co-workers
manage stress.
1 2
3
They should
demonstrate strong
core values and know
how to elicit these
values in other call
center representative
as well.

10. It’s the manager’s job to clearly communicate business goals,
company policies, and procedures to the agents.
Supervisors also need to provide constructive feedback to
agents on handling customer calls to offer better customer
service. To do the above, a call center manager should:
8. Have Strong Communication Skills
A)Know their audience and tailor every message according to the
situation and the agents they are dealing with
B) Simplify the message to avoid confusing them
However, effective communication is a two way
street. This job also requires managers to have
good listening skills. They should be willing to hear
out employee concerns or suggestions and bring
them to the attention of the operations manager.

11. 9. Be Accessible and Approachable
A call center is always buzzing with conversations.
And to keep things going without a glitch, a call center manager may need to personally intervene
when:
1
An agent needs help to deal with an
agitated customer
2
A new employee needs guidance on using
advanced contact center technology.
3
Team members need the manager’s
intervention to deal with difficult co- workers.
Whatever the case may be, an agent should
feel comfortable reaching out to the manager
and raising their concerns. Managers should
also be approachable via calls or emails and
make time for a quick one to one chat.

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10. Be Quick at Problem Solving
The call center supervisor should stay level headed and be
a proactive problem solver to ensure that company
operations run smoothly.
1
2
They should be able to identify problems quickly and
come up with unique ways to resolve them before they
impact the day to day operations.
It’s not uncommon to see minor issues at work escalate
into massive problems. One day it could be multiple angry
customer calls, and next, it could be an issue with the call
center software. Bottom line – no two days are the same.
A manager should be willing to train
others to become good problem-solvers
themselves. This way, agents can
handle difficult calls themselves and
enjoy an autonomous call center
environment.

13. 11. Demonstrate Emotional Intelligence
A call center manager should showcase patience and
empathy across the team to create a positive and
productive work culture.
This can better equip managers to deal with agents and
customers whose emotions run high.
Keep an eye on the various distractions that
affect a workspace and make sure they
don’t disrupt your employees productivity
levels.
More empathetic towards others and helps reduce tension.
Able to connect with customers after and ensures a better
call center experience.
Sensitive to employee engagement and agent needs.
Great at building meaningful relationships with agents and
other supervisors.
Able to handle customer complaints and internal conflicts.
With empathetic leaders onboard employers can expect to
have more emotionally stable who are willing to go extra
mile.

14. Poor time management and project planning usually lead to
employees working overtime and tiring themselves out, burning them
out in the process. To find the right candidate to lead your agent
team, you first need to write a fantastic job description.
How to Hire the Right Call Center Manager
This activates the shipment process.
The customer receives the product.
The order is closed.
T
Customer orders a product or a
service.
Want to determine how long it should take to
complete each activity.
Accounting for work capacity and delegating
tasks efficiently will help boost quality
management and work productivity.
Employers can prevent this by paying close
attention to their employees schedules and
helping them manage their tasks more
efficiently.
Employers can also approach their managers
to understand why they might be stressed or
anxious and seek solutions together
If an employee is struggling with urgent tasks during
the early hours of the day, approach them to find out
when they might feel energetic to take on the task.
Job Summary
Start by explaining the role of
a call center manager.
Include your expectations,
your center’s objectives, and
the call center’s objectives
and the call center manager
skills you require.
Mention the duties of a call
center supervisor in a
bulleted format. Be as
specific and detailed as
possible.
Detail out the specific management
skills you require. Include all the
cEnter skills, educational
requirements, professional
certifications and years of
experience you’re looking for.
Responsibilities Requirements

15. Conclusion
Employers can promote this balance by
encouraging employees to take regular
breaks.
If you have employees who have been
working without leave for an extended time,
suggest they take a vacation to recharge.
1
The first step in building a thriving call
center is hiring an efficient call center
employee as the manager.
Not Important
Quadrant i
Most important tasks to
be completed within a
deadline.
Quadrant ii
Important tasks can be
scheduled for a later time.
Quadrant iii
Important tasks that can
be delegated to another
team member.
Quadrant iv
Unimportant tasks that
may not contribute but
would be nice to do.
Hire efficient call
center manager
Train Employees
2
Successful call center managers can
train and develop better agents,
reduce churn rates, boost agent
productivity and ensure better
customer service.

16. Time Doctor is a powerful time tracking and project
management software for employees. It’s used by
SMBs like Thrive Market and large companies like
Better Business Bureau to increase work productivity.
The Time Doctor app presents time data in timesheets and
productivity reports to deliver valuable insights on how
employees spend their time.
1. What is Time Doctor?
It helps you plan your project workflow and streamline time
management. It can be used to keep updating your time
management plans based on the ABC system.

17. Establish Accountability
Escalate Issues Faster
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