One of the main functions of the supervisor role, as with virtually any role in an office setting, is executing on tasks and directives which have been assigned to you.
Prioritization and Time Management
Effective prioritization and time management is key to ensuring all tasks are completed by their deadlines. Below are some tips and best practices.
At the start of each day, consider all tasks assigned to you and list them in order of highest to lowest priority. For example, if payroll is due in an hour and you need to prepare for a team meeting later in the day, then payroll is the obvious priority.
As the day progresses, new tasks may be assigned. Determine where they should be placed within your list of priorities after considering the urgency level and deadline. For example, if you are coaching an agent but multiple reports are coming through of system issues, it probably makes more sense to put the coaching on hold to address the widespread system issues.
One of the most common tasks of a supervisor is to coach agents. It can often be difficult to meet with agents if your day is stacked with coachings/meetings and theirs is stacked with back-to-back calls. The likelihood of both being free at the same time is not good. If you have multiple agents to meet 1:1 with, try DM’ing 3 at a time saying something like “Please let me know when you are free to meet. If you message me but don’t hear back within 3 minutes then please take another call and we’ll try again later.”
Failure to plan and strategize through the process of prioritization will increase the risk of missing deadlines.
Communication
Effective communication practices can make the difference between an unreliable, dysfunctional team and a dependable, cohesive team.
If a task is given, whether via Direct Message or email, respond to acknowledge the task has been received and understood.
This reassures the task distributor that the directive has not been overlooked.
Once completed, follow up with the distributor that the task has now been completed.
If it is apparent that the task will not be completed on time, be proactive in communicating this along with the reason.
This is not ideal but is better than failure to complete combined with failure to acknowledge the incompletion.
In the remote world, it can be difficult to know who is working. Failure to complete and acknowledge is an indication that there is a breakdown with execution and/or communication, and/or work ethic.
While acknowledging failure to complete on time is better than no communication, it does not necessarily excuse the incompletion. For example, if a sup has a small team but missed some coachings when all agents were present that day, then there may not be a legitimate reason for missing the coachings.
Disciplinary Action
Failure to execute on all tasks and directives and/or failure to implement effective communication practices as outlined above may result in corrective actions as outlined in the table below:
Occurrences | Corrective Action |
|---|---|
First Occurrence | Written Warning (ADP Note) |
Second Occurrence | Written CAP |
Third Occurrence | Final CAP |
Fourth Occurrence | Termination of Employment |