In recent years, I have seen a trend to streamline and simplify agent performance standards. In many cases, they had become too complex — weighted averages, percent time in this and that mode, formulas that would take a mathematician to figure out.

Yes, if I’m one of your agents, give me some objectives on being in the right place at the right times (schedule adherence), and doing the right things (quality). Beyond that, give me an understanding of your business, the unique environment I’m part of, and the importance of my contribution. I’ll produce good numbers and, more importantly, I’ll produce good business results.

As Dee Hock, founder and former CEO of Visa, once put it, “Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior; complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior.”

Excerpt from “Call Center Management on Fast Forward” by Brad Cleveland