Laura (Gibbons) Edell

After a long and extended absence, I am back to share some practical tips to help your Six Sigma program in times of economic turmoil. For starters, during the measure and analyze phases of a project, any of my readers know I talk about, this point of all projects and the introduction of BI, or […]

For defining the ’VOC’ (Voice of the Customer), I typically use a QFD (Quality Factor Diagram) — Of recent, I have found that QFD’s can be hard to understand for some, while even more painful for belts to explain to others. If you find this to be the case, there are 3 tools used sequentially […]

Recently, I had the fortunate or unfortunate pleasure of pulling my head out of the sand, and becoming more versed in another one of our internal surveys. It comes in the form of a link, appended to an automated case response sent to end users when a service request case (think CRM) is resolved or […]

As my title would suggest, the concepts of business intelligence and Six Sigma seem to be revolve around each other according to most practioners, rather than intersect, like I believe. Gone are the days (or should be) where the applications and business processes are distinct, individual units operating outside the realm of process improvement projects. […]

Anyone who knows me knows I am one of the largest fans of the modified balanced scorecard/business scorecard approach. I came across the following study results comparing gender differences at the executive level within organizations. There are those who claim men are more left-brained, thus, women = right dominance. Yet, there is a rise in […]

Recommended Y (outputs) for a service / transactional project in call centers: Goal Metric Metric Type (CustSat,Cost) Decrease Cost of Sales Attendance Adherence Average Not Ready Time Average Talk Time Average Loss per Override Credit Average Fraud Loss   Cost Increase Customer Satisfaction Average ASA Customer-Directed Coaching Customer Satisfaction First Call Resolution Transfer Rate Peer […]

Lately, I have written a lot on call center points of interest, as I have just rolled off three back to back projects in that space. These are some of the hardest six sigma project types, that is, when compared to manufacturing from the control perspective only. Now, I am not at all claiming that […]

Not all that glitters, is gold, and so is true in a call center. Most performance management and incentive programs focus heavily on the financial or monetary benefits to help incentivize agent performance. But, in a black belt project, you focus on ways to drive down costs, so I ask you, can it be done? […]

Resolution, resolution, resolution…that’s what I always say…and so when I see black belts going after AHT (average handle time) as their key output (KPOV) variable, I cringe. Instead, why not break it down to the components of AHT: Talk Time, Hold Time and After-Call Wrap Time. Ok, some of you are saying , “what if […]

In preparation for an award I am accepting for being a pioneer in the CPM (Corporate Performance Management) and BI space for the work done infusing the balanced scorecard (BSC) methodology prior to our deployment of lean six sigma (LSS) , I started thinking about how many blank faces I see when I start talking […]

Successful operations planning can be a powerful cost reduction and organizational development strategy to help define resources and processes needed to sustain the project’s business outcome after control phase, especially in the contact center space. The black/green belts should not keep the responsibility for the product after delivery, nor be listed anywhere in the control […]

Lean Six Sigma for Contact Centers Once your improvements have implemented, the next step is to ensure sustainability of your results through tools like the Control plan & FMEA.To ensure a smooth transitionto your Contact Center Process Owner, the black/green belt should takea more hands-on approach than one may be used to in the transactional […]

Part two in a two part series on First-Call Resolution. Read Part one, Inputs Driving Poor First-Call Resolution Here’s how to get started with a Six Sigma project: Step 1. Define: Conduct an information-seeking drill-down with SME’s (Subject Matter Experts) who are proven resources in the center. This can help determine the objective and scope […]

Part one in a two part series on First-Call Resolution For most contact centers, nearly one-third of inbound calls are repeat callers who weren’t satisfied the first time, and more often than not, the antiquated switches that contact centers leverage, just do not do that great of a job reporting on the true FCR (First-Call […]