Applying Six Sigma in Today’s Call Center

Copyright 2004 The Call Center School

Applying Six Sigma in Today’s Call Center

Presented by:

DMA Teleservices Conference 2004


Workshop Leaders

Penny Reynolds is a Founding Partner of The Call Center School where she heads up curriculum development. She develops and teaches courses on a wide variety of call center topics, including workforce management, performance measurement, and call center technologies. Penny is a popular speaker at industry conferences and association meetings and a frequent contributor to industry trade publications. Her articles have appeared in print publications such as Customer Interface and Customer Interaction Solutions, and online sources such as ICCM Weekly. She has recently published a book entitled Call Center Staffing: The Complete, Practical Guide to Workforce Management and has also co-authored the five textbooks for University of Phoenix’s call center certification program. An honors graduate of Vanderbilt University, Penny was one of the first recipients of Call Center Magazine’s prestigious Call Center Pioneer award.


Session Objectives

In this session, you will learn to:

Define Six Sigma and its place in business today.

Compare Six Sigma to other quality improvement processes.

Outline the five-step process of Six Sigma.

Identify applications for Six Sigma in a call center operation.

Review Six Sigma success stories and failures.


Definition

A fun-loving college fraternity

A smart way to manage a business or department

A process that uses facts and data to drive solutions

A management systems to achieve lasting business leadership

What is Six Sigma?(check all that apply)


Definition

Statistically Speaking…

Sigma DPMO % Success

1 690,000 31%

2 310,000 69%

3 67,000 93.3%

4 4,700 99.38%

5 233 99.997%

6 3.4 99.9997%


Key Concept

Three Main Target Areas

1. Improve customer satisfaction.

2. Increase efficiency.

3. Reduce defects and errors.


Key Concept


Types of Initiatives

1. Business transformation

2. Strategic improvement

3. Problem solving

Routes to Six Sigma Implementation


Roles and Responsibilities

Team Member

Green Belt

Black Belt

Master Black Belt

(Champion or

Sponsor)


Six Sigma Concepts

Distinguishing Themes:

1. Measurement by fact

2. Focus on the customer

3. Root cause analysis and verification

4. Breaking old habits

5. Risk management

6. Measurement of results

7. Sustainment of change


The Six Sigma Process

The DMAIC Steps

1. Define

2. Measure

3. Analyze

4. Improve

5. Control


DMAIC Step 1

Step 1: Define the problem.

Business case Problem/opportunity/goal statement(s) Constraints/assumptions Project scope Players and roles Preliminary plan


Customer Requirements

Customer requirements and expectationsare

CTQ(critical to quality)

Questions:What are the customer “touchpoints” or “moments of truth”

in your organization? What are the internal processes that contribute to the

success of each contact and how well are you doing these?


Types of Surveys

Continuous service improvement depends upon listening to what is happening

INSIDE and OUTSIDE the operation.

Evaluating internal measures of performance shows how efficiently the call center is using resources.

Listening to customers tells the call center how effectively resources are being utilized.


Project Planning

Content Development

Survey Before the Survey: Conduct “critical incident study”. Ask customers to recount actual experiences. Focus on incidents that define customer perceptions. Gather perceptions and what led to conclusions. Ask for positives and negatives. Use one experienced interviewer. Use a purposive sample – customers to bring out issues.

KEY QUESTION:

How will you know when you’re done?


Customer Concerns

Area of Concern Maintenance

Less Concern Potential OverEmphasis

Satisfaction

Imp

ort

anc e

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x


DMAIC Step 2

Step 2: Measure.

Formulate a data collection plan. Gather data to validate and quantify problem or opportunity. Look for facts and numbers that provide clues to cause of problem or base of opportunity. Measure output that best quantifies the current problems. Train team members on sampling and measurement techniques.


Six Sigma Alphabet

Y = f(x)Results (Y) are a function of the X s.

XAn input measure

Many X measures for a business processKey: Find the X which is root cause.

YAn output measure

Measures of the results and outcomes of a processGoal or objective

Links to customer and business requirements


Call Center Measures

Customer Measures

Efficiency Measures


Math Pictures

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Numbers!

Just a few examples…


Performance Statistics

Employee AHT

Adam 4.28

Betty 3.88

Calvin 5.24

Diane 4.54

Ethan 4.00

Fredia 3.23

Grant 4.86


Painting a Picture: Control Chart

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

A B C D E F G H

AHT

Employee

Average

UCL(Upper Control Limit)

LCL(Lower Control Limit)


Performance Statistics

Employee AHT Rev/Call

Adam 4.28 $18.9

Betty 3.88 $17.6

Calvin 5.24 $17.8

Diane 4.54 $19.0

Ethan 4.00 $18.5

Fredia 3.23 $17.5

Grant 4.86 $19.2


Painting a Picture: Scatter Diagram

AHT

Revenue per Call

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

$17 $18

$19

Key:

Correlation

Examples:

AHT vs Rev

AHT vs Experience

ASA vs Error Rate

AHT vs Quality Score


Painting a Picture: Histogram

Handle Time (in min)

Nu

mb

er

of

calls

2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0


DMAIC Step 3

Step 3: Analyze. Expand understanding of problem. Identify root cause/opportunity. Cause categories:

Methods (processes) Machines (technology) Manpower (people) Materials (data, instructions)

Methods: Flowcharts Fishbone cause and effect diagram SIPOC diagram Affinity diagram


Fishbone Diagram

Definition: A cause-and-effect diagram that resembles a fish skeleton Purpose: Provides a determination of all causes of a problem and

can assist in identifying the root cause of a problem Benefits:

Identifies the possible causes of a problem by sorting and displaying them

Analyzes the current process by reviewing all potential factors that may cause a problem in a process to occur

Identifies probable and root causes of a problem


Fishbone Analysis

Steps: State the problem briefly (fish’s head). Write the main factors or “oceans” that may be

causing the problem (example: material, machines (technology), methods, manpower).

Generate primary causes or “rivers” within each main factor by brainstorming.

Generate secondary causes or “streams” and continue asking why, until you have determined the root cause.

Identify the most likely cause(s) of the problem.


Fishbone Example

Factor 3 Factor 4

Factor 1Factor 2

Problem

HighHighHandleHandleTimeTime

MaterialsMaterials

MethodMethod

ManpowerManpower

MachinesMachines

Customer Records

Marketing

Routing

Long Transaction Times

Database

Motivation

JobKnowledge

CallHandling Work Stations

Equipment Integration

Unclea

r

Broch

ure

Ease o

f

Enter

/Upd

ateSelec

t

Info

rmati

on

No HelpLog

In

/Out

Trans

fers

Long PathsW

rong Queues

Dow

ntime

Ergonomics

Access

Time

Dow

ntime

Insufficient Staff

Sche

dulin

gFo

reca

sting

Train

ing

CSR

Caller

s

Unpre

pare

d

HR

Adver

tisin

g,

VRU,

Mes

sage

s,

Litera

ture

Catalo

g

In-House

TrainingR

ecruitment

Com

pensationR

ecruitment

Working

Conditions


DMAIC Step 4

Step 4: Improve. Beware of “see problem, kill problem”. Develop range of solutions – be creative! Determine best solution(s).

Step 4A: Implement. Implement step by step. Employ pilot program to test results. Analyze potential problems and opportunities. Sell the solution.


DMAIC Step 5

Step 5: Control.

Beware the “rubber band” syndrome.

Develop a monitoring process to track changes.

Develop a contingency plan for problems.

Focus on the critical measures (Xs and Ys).

Sell the project with facts.

Hand off responsibilities to new owners.

Ensure support of management for the long term.


Case Study

Six Sigma

Call Center Examples


Resources

Recommended Reading: What is Six Sigma by Pande and Holpp Demystifying Six Sigma by Alan Larson Customer Surveying by Fred Van

Bennekom


Penny Reynolds

615-812-8400

[email protected]

For More Information

Applying Six Sigma in Today’s Call Center

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