During an eight-hour shift in the call center with a 30-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks, is it reasonable to expect my customer service representatives to be in "ready mode" six and a half hours of the day? What is the norm?
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Hannah Smalltree, Editorial Director
The issue you are describing is often called "adherence to schedule." What you call "ready mode" would include time on calls, wrap-up, waiting for calls, and any outbound follow-up required. Most call centers will define a target percentage that allows some cushion, as you are indicating by allowing an extra half hour beyond the known scheduled lunch and breaks – which is fairly typical (93% adherence to schedule). The other factors you might need to consider are things like team meetings and any training, which may increase the off-phone time. Some call centers will go further with their schedule tracking and consider "compliance" – measuring whether people were unavailable for those breaks and lunches not just the right amount of time, but at the scheduled times.
This was first published in April 2007