Quality Assurance Management Techniques You Should Be Applying

Quality assurance management is no easy feat. Trying to maintain a standard of quality can be challenging, especially if you are a large team or just starting to put in place your quality assurance process.

Although it can seem a bit overwhelming, having a good quality assurance program is about consistent procedures from day one.

With the help of a few quality assurance management techniques, you will be able to rock your QA program and stay on top of it.

Coaching frequently

The purpose of having a quality assurance program is to not only maintain a uniform standard of quality but also to improve your existing service.

Coaching should be one of the main quality assurance management techniques you employ on a regular basis. Although training should be incorporated on a regular basis, the whole process of collecting and analyzing data can be tedious.

Getting real-time data on agent performance is a great way to stay in the loop of how your team is doing. There is no need to wait around for endless excel spreadsheets to be analyzed into something that more or less makes sense. With access to real-time performance analytics, you’ll be able to deliver short and precise learnings to the team members that need it the most.

Keep in mind that coaching doesn’t have to be in a standard classroom. Choose the right format to coach and train your team, or individuals you feel could benefit from a little extra support.

Whether its videos, multiple choice questions, shadowing, or on the job training, adapt the learning format according to what needs to be taught and whom you are teaching too.

Constructive feedback

Coaching is only the beginning to ensure an optimal quality assurance program. The hard part begins with the feedback.

Feedback can so easily be misunderstood or delivered the wrong way. An important quality assurance management technique to have is to be able to deliver feedback effectively.

Delivering effective feedback will allow agents to understand their weaknesses and how they can overcome them and achieve their goals.

Feedback done wrong can lead to staff feeling defensive, offended, and demotivated. As a result, your company can suffer from lower productivity.

Learn to deliver feedback the right way.

Monitoring randomly

An inevitable part of running a quality assurance program means that you will have to monitor agents’ work. This can be quite uncomfortable as no one likes to be watched, and monitoring others’ work can feel invasive.

This awkward situating can be avoided by setting up a system where performance is monitored randomly. Our Playvox software allows you to do just that as the software itself chooses which interactions to score.

This is a key quality assurance management technique as random monitoring saves you from being the bad guy. This avoids employees feeling targeted and it normalizes the process, making staff feel it’s just another step to improving and maintaining great customer service.

Well thought out scorecards

Beyond monitoring randomly, go a step further and have a well thought out scorecard to grade customer interactions. Having a clear scorecard not only lets you track metrics that really matter, but you’ll be able to share it with the agents that will be held against these metrics. This makes the whole process transparent and keep agents onboard with company objectives.

When choosing metrics, not only should they be objective, they should also reflect your company values. If your company places extra emphasis on customers, your metrics should reflect that. If your company is known for its speedy and effective customer service, then set your metrics accordingly.

However, be careful when deciding which metrics to hold your agents responsible against. And ensure that your metrics don’t work against you. Establishing too many metrics and setting the bar too high can easily overwork agents and create burn out and higher churn.

Empower your agents

As the leader, your goal is also to build your team up. One of the main quality assurance management techniques to have a kick-ass team is to empower your agents.

Your team shouldn’t forever be bound to you and have to follow instructions to a tee. They should also be empowered to be more autonomous and make decisions that can surprise and delight your customers.

Empowering starts with proper training and thorough material to give agents all the information they’ll need to succeed and spread their wings. Create engaging content they can refer to in the future.

The next step to empowering is to motivate your team. Sit down with each individual member and work together to set goals that they’ll want to exceed.

As a result, company and team goals will also become personal goals.

How are you managing your quality assurance program? Get help with our Playvox quality assurance software, helping you train, monitor, and receive real-time performance metrics so you can provide top-notch customer service every time.