Tuesday, July 12, 2011

CONTENT AREAS AND FORMS OF DELIVERY


The main purpose of categorizing learning provision and constructing diagrams based on this provision is so that it can be understood more clearly and therefore properly managed and directed. It is possible to categorize call centre training along a number of dimensions: general training (handling difficult customers, IT training); sector-specific training (work procedures, telephone sales techniques); and firm-specific training (product knowledge, firm knowledge) (Sieben and de Grip, 2004). Another approach is to classify learning as on-the-job and off-the-job, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: On-the-job and off-the-job learning
On-the-job
Off-the-job
Coaching
Monitoring colleagues
Buddying
Mentoring
Computer-based learning
Work-based learning
Coaching
Monitoring colleagues
Buddying
Mentoring
Computer-based learning
Work-based learning
Learning and development can also be classified into what Granered called ‘training modalities’. These were:
  • classroom-based training;
  • e-learning;
  • learning by doing;
  • coaching.
Whichever modality is chosen the most important consideration is that, ‘We are trying to create the most effective transfer of knowledge with the greatest amount of impact, at the lowest cost’.

e-learning

The use of e-learning would appear to be growing and approximately half of contact centres use web-based learning. The reasons for this growth are:
  • It provides a single learning experience that is common to all learners.
  • It can be transmitted to each participant.
  • It is interactive and involves the learner.
  • It can be self-paced and go at the speed of the learner.
  • Once produced it can be cheaply disseminated.
  • It can be targeted at specific needs.
  • Learning can be assessed online.
  • It can be used to confirm that people have completed compulsory training, eg health and safety.
  • It can assess and target specific learning needs.
  • It can be carried out at the learner’s work desk.
  • It can be studied during quiet call periods.
  • It can be used to simulate the customer transaction. There are, however, limitations to e-learning too:
  • Classroom-based learning is still considered to be more interesting and appealing to learners 
  • It is expensive to produce.
  • It is not viable for small training needs, with classroom-based learning or other forms being cheaper.
  • With the quality of computer games, many e-learning materials are considered inferior and boring.
  • It is not as portable as print-based materials.
  • There is no social interaction.
  • Many of the skills such as speaking cannot be accurately developed.
  • The content is not always appropriate.
  • It is poorly suited to so skills training.
E-learning presents a number of advantages and disadvantages for the individual and the organization. To manage this to best effect many organizations have instituted a policy of blended learning in which the benefits of more traditional forms of learning and those of e-learning are combined to best effect.

Informal learning

Most contact centres emphasize the development of teams to reduce the negative aspects of individual working and use the physical architecture of the building and workstations clustered in pods to build camaraderie. Close proximity enables agents to consult with each other during and after calls to share information and experience.
The social nature of call centres is also encouraged during breaks. Even here, agents share stories about work experiences and thus create a constructive cultural environment and an informal individual and collective memory system. In effect, this informal communication builds up communities of practice and these support networks complement the on-screen information.
Operators also develop their own improvised forms of personal information systems that are used for learning and gathering information. These files and personal notes are used to record and store information that is not generally available or easy to locate through the formal systems.

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