CCMA Certificate in Strategic Contact Centre Management

Course details

The CCMA Certificate in Contact Centre Management leads to a QQI FETAC Level 6 Award (45 Credits) and is made up of three minor awards in Business Management in a Contact Centre Environment (15 Credits), Supervisory Management in a Contact Centre Environment (15 Credits) and Contact Centre Management Support Skills (15 Credits):

1. Business Management in a Contact Centre Environment (Leading to a QQI FETAC Level 6 Award in Business Management)

On successful completion of this minor learners will understand the principles and practice of management within the contact centre and shared services business environment and will develop vital management skills. Learners will study the following modules:

• Company Structure Types - Explore a range of contact centre and shared services organisations including different organisation types, purpose, mission, vision and objectives and structures; investigate internal and external environments to include a SWOT analysis (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats) and a PEST analysis (Political Economic Social Technological)
• Investigate the internal environment of a Contact Centre organisation to include a SWOT Analysis of your Contact Centre identify strengths and weaknesses of your internal organisation and Opportunities and Threats of your external environment and competitors .
• Analyse the impact of a range of external factors on an organisation to include PEST analysis (Political Economic Social Technological) to include looking at the business strategy of your own organisation and conducting a PEST analysis or your contact centre.
• Examine the need to and various ways that organisations adapt to and manage change to include the principles and theories of Change Management, who is responsible for change management, ideas on illustrating change management, how contact centres need change management and 99 ways you can change your contact centre.
• The Role of Management and Management Styles - Explore the role of management within an organisation; examine the difference between management and leadership in a contact centre and the impact of different management and leadership styles on group and individual performance within your contact centre or shared services organisation. A specific insight is given to the role of a Team Leader and a Contact Centre Manager.
• The Functions of Management in an organisation to include planning, organising, motivating, monitoring, review and control. Also including Resource Management skills and Managers planning models for decision making.
• Examine the difference between management and leadership and the impact of different management and leadership styles on group and individual performance within a Contract Centre organization. A review of different leaders styles and leadership zones will help you choose the decision making style most suitable to you personally and your organization.
• Appraise the role of Human Resources Function and the Human Resource Tools and Techniques used to Recruit Select and Appraise Employees and Resolve Conflict within an Organization. Best practice in recruitment selection beyond just forecasting and scheduling will incorporate business planning into workforce planning.
• Standards and Management Processes in a Contact Centre Environment will review the CCA Framwork for best practice, show you how to develop a customer centric process, An overview of workforce management processes in a contact centre environment, designing shift patterns and workforce rotations and best practices to review your workforce plans.
• Design an Appropriate Workflow System to Build a Training and development strategy to include Documentation of the Process, Identification of Responsibilities and Expected Outputs. How to develop a skills based competency framework, how to build a new starter Induction Program, how to build a team leader induction program and how best to measure and evaluate these programs as well as ongoing development.
• How to Compile a Report on a Management Process to include a Review and Evaluation of the Process. An overview of business report writing will enable you to consider the structure you decide on, reporting conventions, and an overview of the types of reports required in a contact Centre environment.
• Evaluate the Performance of an Individual or Group within an Organisation to include Objectives and Performance Indicators. A review of how performance is perceived by people and the impact it has on employment relationships, the importance of setting standards allows you to overview various strategic planning models. How to convert data into power gives you the tools to support continuous improvement through feedback objective setting and coaching.

2. Supervisory Management in a Contact Centre Environment (Leading to a QQI FETAC Level 6 Award in Supervisory Skills)

• With successful completion of this minor learners will be equipped with the relevant knowledge, skills and competence to work independently in a range of contact centre roles in a supervisory capacity. Learners will study the following modules:
• Evaluate the principles and practice of supervision in range of public, private and voluntary environments
• Evaluate different approaches to supervision and or line management, to include key concepts and methods of choosing an approach for a particular context or organisation
• Analyse the attributes and key skills of an effective supervisor, to include communication, interaction, time management, organisational skills, familiarity with relevant employment and health and safety legislation
• Explain the role of the supervisor in establishing, maintaining and continuously improving standards and quality in an organisation
• Utilise a range of organisational skills, to include planning and organising work, time management, arranging, running and following up meetings, documenting relevant elements of personal supervisory practice
• Develop strategies for overcoming barriers effective supervision, to include recognition of common challenges and problems when working with inpiduals and teams, and identification of possible resolutions
• Design an operational work plan or project for a fixed period, to include short and medium term objectives that are consistent with the organisations overall objectives, policies and requirements, and utilizing appropriate monitoring and evaluation tools
• Utilise training needs analyses to plan and implement training plans for team or group in accordance with organisational objective
• Delegate work to others, to include assignment of tasks, monitoring progress, evaluating results
• Provide effective feedback to individual and teams, to include positive and corrective pointers, and communication on poor performance and ways of resolving any issues arising
• Implement a work plan, to include appropriate monitoring and records of progress, evaluation of implementation in relation to the original plan and appropriate action to complete the plan
• Supervise a team, to include negotiating a work plan or project, delivering a briefing, checking understanding by summarising information and agreed-upon actions, monitoring and evaluation of progress in the work plan and by team members.

3. Contact Centre Management Support Skills (Leading to a QQI FETAC Level 6 Award in Contact Centre Support Skills)

• On successful completion of this minor, the learner will have gained knowledge, skill and competence in the practices and operations of a contact centre to enable him/her to operate effectively in a contact and shared services centre environment, dealing directly with clients over the telephone. Learners will study the following modules:
• Examine the development and range of contact and shared services centres in Ireland and the importance of the sector to the local, national and international economy by reviewing what is a contact centre, what kind of business’s use contact centres today the different types of contact centres that will allow you to understand the guiding principles of contact centres
• Explore the role and impact of a range of contact and shared services centre technologies, systems and processes to include call management platforms, customer relationship management (CRM) applications, work force planning, automated help lines and metrics and measurements used. An overview of contact centre technology gives us an understanding of the history of call distribution, the convergence of voice and data, the move from call centres to contact centres. Also predictive dialling automated call handling, integrated messaging and self service shows the strategic movement of the sector.
• Analyse the impact of a range of current legislation and regulations on the operation of a contact centre to include Health and Safety, Consumer Protection and Data Protection legislation. An overview of legislation that impacts contact centres is reviewed such as equality and consumer legislation, sale of goods and supply of services Act, regulatory organisations and representation and redress allow you to understand compliance in the sector.
• Explore performance indicators used within a contact centre environment and their role in enhancing team performance. Contact Centre Metrics shows you how knowledge through metrics can be understood. An overview of the types of contacts centre metrics and the theories behind them allow you to understand the theories of queuing science and tell you the story of the contact centre you work in. Practical experience on how to evaluate metrics teaches you how to create a metric balance and metric dashboard.
• Utilise a range of communication and technological skills to manage ext ernal customer relationships dealing directly with customers within a contact or shared services centre such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) and other customer and consumer experience satisfaction measurement tools. An overview of the key skills ,qualities ,behaviours and call rules allows you to understand customer and consumer behaviours.
• Organise the working environment to include the identification of the components of an ergonomic contact centre environment and the implementation of current health and safety legislation and practice. An overview of office ergonomics give an insight into risks and hazards facing office workers and all the relevant legialtion
• Manage a team to include the setting of objectives and targets, the allocation of functions and tasks to individual and teams, and the implementation of performance measures to measure individual and team performance
• Implement an effective, quality customer relationship management service to customers in line with organisational procedures. Practical tools on how to manage quality from a contact centre technology perspective, how to position your contact centre in term of success by examining which short and long term priorities are the most effective in terms of time and resources.
• Identify employment opportunities, career development, promotional opportunities, career paths and training opportunities within the contact centre and shared services industry for self and others
• Evaluate own performance and that of peers, managers and support departments against predetermined objectives, goals and targets such as personal development plans, mid-year review, employee self assessment, 360 and peer feedback and manager input and reviews. Check your attitude, be reflective, assess your performance against job specifications, find out your managers expectations, get feedback from others, be a team player, plan ahead, evaluate and develop your own performance

Entry Requirements, Assessment and Accreditation

Participants must hold a Level 5 or equivalent qualification and /or have relevant life and work experience to gain entry to this course.