New Manager Training Curriculum

Questions that new Managers often have:

What do I do first? Where do I start? How do I manage my friends? How do I establish my credibility?
What do I need to start doing? Stop doing? How far from my comfort zone do I need to go? How do I avoid making stupid mistakes?
What kind of Manager do I want to be/ need to be? How do I get some ‘quick hits’?
What does my boss expect? How do I get broader perspective about our business?
How do I motivate my team? How involved should I get in my team’s work? What about conflict…..should I intervene or let things ride?
How do I manage my time….my stress? How will I know if I’m doing a good job?

Now you have earned your new supervisor position!

In your previous position, you did a great job. Yet, you're smart enough to know the skills that made you a great team player won't
necessarily make you a great supervisor. For any new supervisor, training is key to success in this role.
 It's not enough to focus only on your department … suddenly you're a member of the management team. Your new peers will
expect you to have a broader perspective, including other departments.
 It's not enough to keep yourself motivated … you have to be a coach, cheerleader, and "strong shoulder" to people who have bad
days, conflicts with each other, and other demands that you might not be able to satisfy.
 Ways to avoid the problems that sabotage many new supervisors
 How to get the unvarnished truth about a new employee's position and performance (What does this refer to??)
 What it takes to get productivity from people who aren't used to you being "the boss"
 How to size up your supervisor — so you can give better support and get more backing in return
 How to increase your visibility and earn the respect your position deserves

Who will benefit most from this training?

 New supervisors and managers with less than one year of experience
 Aspiring and soon-to-be-promoted supervisors
 Experienced supervisors with little or no formal supervisor training

How it works:
 Small group size (10-15 people); 3 hour modules facilitated monthly.
 Each module features a 2 hour live learning session, homework assignment, with a 1 hour learner de-brief via teleconference within
the monthly cycle
 Some Pre-course assignments, recommended reading and ICP course referrals for continuation learning
1|Page
 Curriculum - New Manager Training for Contact Centers
A Transition to Leadership and Business Fundamentals …Preparing for the First 100 Day Challenge 3 hours
Pre-Work:
Leadership Research: identify which leadership competencies your organization values, and bring that
information with you
Company Research: conduct brief research on your company, including scope and size of business, annual
revenue, number of customers, number of employees and what differentiates your company from others in the
same field


Face-to-Face Training 2 hours

Build your personal vision …
 Understand what makes leaders successful and identify competencies & skills required
 Define your personal goals as a leader and design your development plan accordingly
 Identify role models/mentors to work with
 Transition from peer to leader/coach: develop professional relationships and business ownership thinking.
Avoid friendship pitfalls that could compromise your new position.
 Earn long term personal power versus relying on position power
General Business Model overview:
 Why do businesses exist? Understanding the profit model is fundamental. Topics include: revenue,
operating costs, net income/ EBITDA, free cash flow (FCF), unique value propositions or differentiators in
the market place, key business stakeholders (customers, shareholders, employees).
Operate as a Business Owner:
 Review your Company’s Vision and Values; share with your team
 Your Company’s general business measures & success factors
 Read your company’s annual report

Homework Assignment - each student submits to Instructor prior to group debrief

 Define your personal brand as a leader. What do you wish to be known for? Describe the actions you are
taking to reinforce your personal brand.
 How will your leadership brand support your Company’s success?

Conference Call Debrief Agenda 1 hour

 On a scale of one to 10, how difficult did you find this assignment and why?
 What accomplishment did you find the most satisfying?
 Any surprises along the way?
 Key learnings:
 Your key challenge and one action item going forward.
2|Page
 B*** Contact Centre Fundamentals 3 hours
Pre-Work
Business Plan and Performance Reports: bring a copy of your department’s business plans and a copy of
your team’s performance reports.
Face-to-Face Training 2 hours
Business Plans
 Review a few sample templates of a department’s annual business plan
 Review your department’s annual plans
Define Business Success- Understand your Team’s deliverables as part of the annual business plan
 Identify/Clarify your accountabilities, KPIs (Customer Satisfaction, Quality, Cost, Productivity, Cycle time,
Revenue/Sales, Employee Retention/Engagement)
Team Results/ Performance Analytics: tracking, trending, alerts, root cause analysis/validation
 Refer to your team’s performance reports as per pre-work assignment
 Additional learning opportunity: Stephen Ng’s course, Business Fundamentals.
Homework Assignment - each student to submit to Instructor prior to group debrief
Conduct an interview with your boss to achieve aligned understanding of the department’s business success
and how you and your team will contribute (using a structured questionnaire provided for you)
Document an accurate list of KPI’s for your contact centre and for your team. Complete a preliminary
assessment of your team’s performance per KPI (Meeting, Exceeding or Growth Opportunity).
Your Team’s Brand: define what your team’s unique value proposition will be, acting as a franchise owner
within your company. What will your team be known for?
Conference Call Debrief Agenda
 On a scale of one to 10, how difficult did you find this assignment and why? 1 hour
 What accomplishment did you find the most satisfying?
 Any surprises along the way?
 Key learnings: your early assessment of your team’s strengths and growth opportunities; what will your team
be known for?
 Your key challenge and one action item going forward

3|Page
 C*** Customer Advocacy - Leveraging the Voice of the Customer 3 hours
Pre-Work: NA
Face-to-Face Training
2 hours
What customers want:
 Competence (product and technical training, reference tools, efficiency, FCR)
 Caring (human/business model, soft skills)
 Value (up sell & cross sell, new promotions, convenience, savings opportunities)
Intro to Customer Loyalty (top box scores) versus Customer Satisfaction
 The bottom line value of loyalty and profit
 Classic loyalty measures:
o Level of customer satisfaction, top box only
o Willing to do business again
o Willing to refer
o Willing to sole source with your company
First Contact Resolution and the impact to Customer Loyalty, Cost and Employee Engagement
 How First Contact Resolution is defined and measured (the customer view versus internal statistical views)
 Recovery strategies for FCR versus escalations
o The risk of no action versus the loyalty value of a recovery (The number of people who talk about their
complaints versus a happy customer who does not)
o The benefit of higher levels of loyalty with prompt recovery
Customer Analytics source data:
 Survey feedback (Transactional or Loyalty/Value); competitor comparison; share as learnings with your team
(verbatims)
 Customer Complaints as Gifts (TARP research)
 Employee feedback (anecdotal alerts for further investigation)
 Retention and churn results
 Customer Focus Groups
The Power of One
 When you receive complaints,
 When you experience FCR failures ( repeat calls for same issue)
 How can you and your team help to improve the customer experience?
 Bring the customer to every team meeting (cardboard cut-out of customer). Share one customer success
and one challenge

4|Page
 C*** Customer Advocacy and leveraging the Voice of the Customer (cont’d) 3 hours

Tracking tools to capture customer specifics for emerging issues

 You and your team can choose a small problem to apply the problem solving model to and make a
recommendation to the organization
Complaint Management
 Understand your company’s policies and process around complaint management
 Ensure that your team is well versed in recognizing and responding to
o Escalation opportunities
o Recovery opportunities
 Gather the trends from complaints for sharing with senior leadership; highlight specific policy, process,
training barriers
 Utilize real call examples to support and explain statistical data

Homework Assignment - each student submits to Instructor prior to group debrief

 Select one customer complaint you received, and use it as a case study for learning with your team. Jointly
determine root cause, business impact, and appropriate recovery strategy. Identify action taken to prevent
recurrence.
Conference Call Debrief Agenda 1 hour
 On a scale of one to 10, how difficult did you find this assignment and why?
 What accomplishment did you find the most satisfying?
 Any surprises along the way?
 Share Key learnings for you and your team - root cause(s) identified and action taken
 Your key customer loyalty challenge and one action item going forward.


5|Page
 D*** Planning and Organizing 3 hours
Pre-Work
 Research if your department has documented the ideal day-in-the-life of a manager, and if yes, bring the
document with you
 Pick a day and journal your activities on the template provided

Face-to-Face Training 2 hours

Goal Setting
 Measures of success/KPI’s
 Breaking the goal into discrete milestones to achieve
 High Impact activities
Develop long-term & short-term plans
Effective Prioritization
Research the ideal Day in the Life for your role
 Coaching as a priority with ideal percentage allocation of time
 Caution on time spent for administrative duties
 Caution on time spent for email management
Effective Delegation
 Employee engagement
 Leverage available shrinkage factors
Other Time management techniques including saying ‘no’ gracefully
Homework Assignment - each student submits to Instructor prior to group debrief
 Plan out your next 4 week calendar, and show daily coaching and/or high impact activities completed.
 For days with no coaching or high impact activities completed, why not? What was the barrier?
Conference Call Debrief Agenda 1 hour
 On a scale of one to 10, how difficult did you find this assignment and why?
 What accomplishment did you find the most satisfying?
 Any surprises along the way?
 Key learnings?
 Your key challenge and one action item going forward.

6|Page
 E Leadership – It Starts with You 3 hours
Pre-Work:
Selected Reading assignments
Face-to-Face Training 2 hours
Personal Leadership: emotional intelligence (EI), Integrity, Empathy, Role Modeling (‘walk the talk’) and overall
Maturity
 Inverted pyramid and Servant Leadership (Helga)
 Integrity (alignment of principles, words and actions)
 The Covey Maturity Continuum – dependence to independence to interdependence
 Peter Papadogiannis is an EI resource and author with sports analogies
Motivational principles
 Share the vision, Advocate for your customers; The power of ‘fun’; De-stressing techniques
 Books: 1001 Ways to Energize Employees; 1001 Ways to Reward Employees
Building productive business relationships
 With your boss, your peers, interdepartmental colleagues. Focus on marketing and HR synergies.
 Develop a strong industry professional network.
 Manage Conflict when it occurs, know when to intervene (if impacting business results or team
effectiveness); online self assessment tool (Elizabeth)

Homework Assignment - each student submits to Instructor prior to group debrief

 Assess your top 2 leadership strengths and your key growth opportunity
 Document 5 ways in which you have created a motivating environment for your team

Conference Call Debrief Agenda 1 hour

 On a scale of one to 10, how difficult did you find this assignment and why?
 Any surprises along the way?
 Key learnings:
 A) Share your leadership strengths and one opportunity
 B) Highlight one accomplishment in employee motivation
 Your key challenge in the area of personal leadership and one action item going forward.

7|Page
 F Leadership - Building a High Performance Team 3 hours
Pre-Work:
Selected Reading assignments

Face-to-Face Training 2 hours

Team Leadership:
 Situational Leadership (Blanchard): the four skill and will quadrants and the appropriate leadership style for
each (directing, coaching, supporting, delegating)
 Team building: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing with exercises (Jane)
 The Pygmalion Theory…the power of positive expectations (Helga)
 Leveraging team diversity e.g. DISC (Helga or Jane)
 Introduce Coaching Survey as measure of success.(Helga)
 Managing Team Dynamics and Mood for Success to enable success (optimism, curiosity, ambition,
excitement versus defeatism, depression, cynicism) (Helga)
Employee Engagement
 Principles & actions
 7 point plan for improving employee engagement (Beth)
Develop Trusting Coaching Relationships
 3 Levels of Trust (trust in your sincerity, in your competence, in your reliability)
 Customize your coaching style to meet individual needs
o Intro to DISC profiles, values, communication and learning style
o Situational leadership
o Mutual expectations
 Best practices and tools for establishing productive coaching relationships
 Business coaching versus personal counseling (engage the experts)

Homework Assignment - each student submits to Instructor prior to group debrief

 Assess each of your team member’s placement in the Skill and Will quadrants and your optimal leadership
style to help them grow
 Document one employee involvement initiative to drive your team’s business success
 Assess each of your team members based on DISC profile styles and identify how you will customize your
coaching style

8|Page
 Conference Call Debrief Agenda
 On a scale of one to 10, how difficult did you find this assignment and why? 1 hour
 Any surprises along the way?
 Key learnings:
 A) Which situational leadership model will you plan to use most often and why?
 B) Highlight one accomplishment in employee engagement
 C) Share any DISC trends from your team
 Your key challenge in building a high performance team and one action item going forward.

G*** Coaching for Performance – Good to Great 3 hours

Pre-Work:
 Bring information about one challenging performance case that you currently have
Face-to-Face Training 2 hours
The power of Self-Discovery coaching
 Self discovery versus telling (why bother?)
 Craft the right coaching questions (open and closed)
 Secure effective coaching commitment
 Document, document, document
Effective Feedback models
 Side by Side Call Review
 Coaching to performance/behavioral opportunities
 Straight Talk/ courageous conversations
Coaching /Performance Management process
 Analyze results for targeted coaching
 Prioritize opportunities
 Isolate/validate root cause
 Match your coaching strategy/tactic to the root cause
 The Fool Proof path to improvement – Up or Out
 Performance Improvement Plans (PIP’s) and Progressive Discipline
o Provide template /refer to HR
o Note: refer to Employment Law seminar by Nora Lee
Homework Assignment - each student submits to Instructor prior to group debrief
 Prepare appropriate coaching questions and conduct at least one self-discovery coaching session
 Practice the feedback models for : minimum 1 Call Review, minimum 1 performance/behavioral opportunity
 Use the coaching tools to successfully resolve your challenging performance case (from pre-work)

9|Page
 Conference Call Debrief Agenda 1 hour
 On a scale of one to 10, how difficult did you find this assignment and why?
 What accomplishment did you find the most satisfying?
 Any surprises along the way?
 Key learnings
 A) Which Self-Discovery coaching questions worked well for you? Share two.
 B) Feedback models – what worked best for you? Any challenges?
 C) Provide an update on your challenging performance case. Action taken and next steps.
 Your key challenge in building your performance coaching skill and one action item going forward.

H Problem Solving 3 hours

Pre-Work
 Bring information on a classic customer impacting problem in your contact centre
Face-to-Face Training 2 hours
Accurate problem definition & impact analysis
 Avoid jumping to conclusions; stick to the facts
 Quantify the size, scope and frequency
 Clarify type of issue (people, process, policy, tools) and stakeholders, who owns the issue
 Is it worth solving? Quantify the benefit/ROI.
Root cause isolation
 Peel the onion, 5 layers of Why. Avoid jumping to a solution.
Brainstorming & prioritizing solutions, decision-making
 Pareto 80/20 rule, quadrant analysis for impact and doability
Implementation – plan, schedule and execute
 Understand your role in relation to others (RACI refer to chart below ).
 Leverage available expert resources
 Escalate as required
Sustain results & foster continuous improvement
 PLAN, Do, Check, Act;
 Establish owners, measure results, celebrate improvement, take corrective action
Recycle the problem solving process as required
 Case studies (TBD)
 Videos (Elizabeth – on problem solving/decision making)

10 | P a g e
 Homework Assignment - each student submits to Instructor prior to group debrief
 Apply the problem solving model to your customer impacting problem (from pre-work). Use questionnaire
(Problem statement, who owns this problem, what is your role, is the problem worth solving, what is the
benefit, etc)

Conference Call Debrief Agenda 1 hour

 On a scale of one to 10, how difficult did you find this assignment and why?
 What accomplishment did you find the most satisfying?
 Any surprises along the way?
 Key learnings
 Was your problem worth solving and why?
 Who owns your problem and how did you contribute to resolution?
 Your top priority challenge for problem solving and one action item going forward.

I Change Management 3 hours

Pre-Work: nil
Face-to-Face Training 2 hours
Expect and be prepared for Change! In Contact Centres, change is the only constant!
 New products and services being introduced due to strategic growth and competitive pressures (your
relationship with marketing is critical)
 New customer processes or policies
 New systems and tools,
 New business requirements to meet
The Change Management process
 The Heart of Change (Helga)
 The Fair Process model(Beth)
 Clarify impacted stakeholders (the pros and cons for both customers and employees)
 Manage the business change event as well as the human impact/transition
 Understand the phases of human transition (Endings, Neutral Zone and New Beginnings)
 Leadership tactics to help your team embrace change positively in each of these phases
Communication is everything! Extensive change management communication is necessary and ongoing
 The three elements (body, tone and words)
 Communications Outcome: Who decides - the giver or the receiver?
 Understand your target audience - their WIIFM and their sensitivities
11 | P a g e
 Homework Assignment - each student submits to Instructor prior to group debrief
 Exercise (template provided): pick a change, describe what it is.
 Why is this change important?
 Who are the stakeholders and how are they impacted?
 What does your team need to be successful?
 What is your change management plan on the business front and on the human level?
 How will you engage your employees to positively embrace this change?
 What is your plan to make the change stick?
Conference Call Debrief Agenda 1 hour
 On a scale of one to 10, how difficult did you find this assignment and why?
 What accomplishment did you find the most satisfying?
 Any surprises along the way?
 Key learnings
 A) Change Process: describe your change in terms of business and human impact. What elements
of your plan worked best to facilitate the change? What challenges and barriers did you encounter?
 B) Communications: how did you leverage communications to facilitate the change?
 Your top priority challenge for change management and one action item going forward.

12 | P a g e
 J Talent Management – Hire Right or Manage Hard! 3 hours
Pre-Work:
 Does your company have an existing hiring profile? Please bring it with you.
 Do you use a consistent interview guide? Please bring it with you.
2 hours

Face-to-Face Training:
Ideal Talent profile: for employee selection process
 DISC profile (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Compliance)
 Competencies and skills required (multi-tasking, customer orientation, listening skills, problem solving skills,
impact and influence)
Interviewing skills & assessment tools
 Resume review, telephone interview, face-to-face
 Math, language and typing tests
 Behavioral interview questions linked to the desired competencies and skills (SDO- describe a situation,
what you did about it, and what the outcome was) (provide a sample interview guide)
 Cues and clues to be looking for: interviewees, attire, confidence, body language)
 Plan on asking drill-down questions to clarify areas of concern
 Be forthright and realistic on explaining employement expectations (attendance, schedule flexibility, vacation)
 The post-interview decision making process (competency selection grid)
 You are the business ambassador. What image will you project? (attire, confidence, eye contact, body
language)
Employee Retention:
 Why does it matter?
o The cost of replacement for a front line team member (training, productivity, learning curve costs).
o Consistency and quality of the customer experience.
 How to measure employee attrition (internal, external; voluntary and involuntary; percent churn versus ideal)
 Job Fit is the earliest key to retention success
 Retention is about Employee Engagement (meaningful work, continuous learning and development, reward
and recognition, career opportunities, involvement)
 Track and trend your employee losses by category (voluntary versus involuntary and reason – relocation,
better career opportunity, health problem, returning to school, performance issue, job too stressful). Look for
opportunities to minimize preventable losses. A good percentage of your employee attrition should be
involuntary or management influenced (25% to 45% - Bell curve, work with bottom 20% performers). Internal
transfers and career advancements should be separately tracked as positive attrition.
13 | P a g e
 Your own Career
 Strategies to maximize Impact & Influence within your role
 Leverage mentoring relationship

Homework - each student submits to Instructor prior to group debrief

 Interviews: Develop an interview guide that you can use, with the appropriate behavioral interview questions.
Conduct an interview or role play with a peer
 Retention: Analyze your team losses over the last 6 months and quantify involuntary versus voluntary losses.
(we will need to template a worksheet for the math) Identify opportunities for preventable losses.
 Your Career: what are two action items that you will take to support your personal development over the next
6 months? Select and meet with a mentor to support you on that personal development plan.
Conference Call Debrief Agenda: 1 hour
 On a scale of one to 10, how difficult did you find this assignment and why?
 What accomplishment did you find the most satisfying?
 Any surprises along the way?
 Key learnings:
 A) Interviews: which two questions in your interview guide gave you the most insight for your selection
process? Why?
 B) Retention: what opportunities did you see to improve employee retention for your team, and how did you
action that? I.e. either reduce preventable losses or increase thoughtful de-selection.
 C) Your Career: what actions did you select as your personal development priorities? Who did you select as
your mentor? Why did you select the mentor you did, and provide one highlight of your joint plan for your
personal development.

14 | P a g e
Costing Scenarios

15 Students 10 Students

Every half day segment is valued at $300  $300 x 15 = $4,500 per segment  $300 x 10 = $3,000 per segment
per person, includes a 2 hour face-to-face
learning session and a 1 hour follow-up  $45,000 for full program  $30,000 for full program
teleconference session within a four week  Costs:  Costs:
period
 $1,000 for logistics  $1,000 for logistics
$3,000 for the entire program per student
 $3,500 remaining  $2,000 remaining
5 full days (10 half day sessions)
 $2,100 for instructor (60%)  $1,000 for instructor (50%)
Estimate logistics costs at $1,000 per
segment (hotel room, refreshments, AV,  Net profit for CPA  Net profit for CPA
teleconference)
 $1,400 for CPA (40%)  $1,000 (50%)
The balance would be a percentage payout
 $14,000 For 10 sessions  $10,000 for 10 sessions
between CPA (40%) and the instructor
(60%). Caveat: minimum payout to anyone
would be $1,000 per segment

Value Add:

 Real-time Mentoring for each student, up to 10 FREE phone calls for students registered/paid for the entire program. This
will be your secret weapon as a new supervisor. Leverage our executive expertise to make you magically smarter in the eyes
of your boss and peers!
 Offer a discount for registering for the entire certification program (research…)
 Offer real-time Mentoring at $25 per call (15 to 20 minutes) for students registering on a Business Buffet basis.

15 | P a g e
The Situational Leadership Model
Ken Blanchard's situational leadership model outlines 4 different leadership styles that can be adopted depending on the situation or task.

Competence versus Commitment (Skill vs Will)

The leader assesses the development level of the “follower” with regard to completing a specific task. The leader assesses the follower’s level
of competence and commitment in that situation and correctly matches their leadership style with the development level of the follower.
An effective leader is able to move fluidly between each leadership style, recognising that a follower will have different development levels
for different tasks.
Development (D) Level

(D1) Low Competence, Low Commitment – low skill level i.e. no training, understanding of how to complete the task, previous experience
and lacks motivation or confidence to complete the task.
(D2) Low Competence, High Commitment – has desire or incentive to complete task but low skill level.
(D3) High Competence, Low/Variable Commitment – can competently complete task but lacks confidence or perceives task as high risk
(D4) High Competence, High Commitment – experienced and motivated to complete task independently.
Leadership (S) Style
(S1) Directing – one-way communication where leader tells and shows follower what to do, and closely supervises them doing it.
(S2) Coaching – two-way communication where leader directs what needs to be done, seeking ideas and suggestions from the follower.
(S3) Supporting – leader focuses on motivation and confidence issues and leaves task decisions to follower.
(S4) Delegating – leader provides high-level direction only and further involvement and decision making is controlled by follower.

Ken Blanchard's Situational Leadership Model has been adopted by many large companies as it is easily learned and applied.

16 | P a g e
RACI Model of Roles and Accountabilities

Responsible

Those who do the work to achieve the task. There is typically one role with a participation type of Responsible, although others can be
delegated to assist in the work required (see also RASCI below for separately identifying those who participate in a supporting role).

Accountable (also Approver or final Approving authority)

Those who are ultimately accountable for the correct and thorough completion of the deliverable or task, and the one to whom Responsible is
accountable. In other words, an Accountable must sign off (Approve) on work that Responsible provides. There must be only one
Accountable specified for each task or deliverable.

Consulted
Those whose opinions are sought; and with whom there is two-way communication.

Informed
Those who are kept up-to-date on progress, often only on completion of the task or deliverable; and with whom there is just one-way
communication.

Very often the role that is Accountable for a task or deliverable may also be Responsible for completing it (indicated on the matrix by the task or
deliverable having a role Accountable for it, but no role Responsible for its completion, i.e. it is implied). Outside of this exception, it is generally
recommended that each role in the project or process for each task receive, at most, just one of the participation types. Where more than one
participation type is shown, this generally implies that participation has not yet been fully resolved, which can impede the value of this technique in
clarifying the participation of each role on each task

17 | P a g e