Action Planning                 

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What is action planning?

It’s about strategy. action planning consists of the coach and CSR collaborating and agreeing on the right performance outcomes and then creating a unique behavioral plan to achieve those outcomes. After coaching conversations there always should be an action or commitment of some sort; the CSR will make a change, take a new approach, or try something new to improve their performance. The action plan captures the agreed upon action or commitment and formalizes it in a way that can be followed-up on, feedback can be given, and progress tracked. It creates a clear and

consistent way for alignment between the CSR, coach and senior. Of course, not every expectation is captured on an action plan, there are dozens of expectations to live up to. But, the action plan captures the one most impacting outcome to work towards and the behavior that will make that happen.

At its worst, an action plan can seem like an administrative obligation to the coach and just a “hoop to jump through” for the CSR. When not done right, it can get in the way of success. When focused primarily on a weakness without the right way to improve, they can be a de-motivator. When not kept flexible, they can

be confining as the wrong plan gets missed week after week. Also, don’t expect to create that one all-encompassing change-the-world master plan to take your CSR to the top. Rather, it is a bite-sized behavioral goal that will get them one step closer to their maximum potential.

In the CSR’s world it’s easy to get lost. There’s virtually an unlimited amount of things they could be working on at any given time. Feedback and expectations come from many different angles: quality scores, side-by-side feedback, 1:1 coaching's, peer mentors, team meetings, changing policies, changing goals… the list goes on. It could feel overwhelming trying to implement every piece of well intentioned advice all at once. Action planning brings in a calming focus. A journey of a thousand

miles begins with a single step…so in action planning, it’s about finding the right step to take right now. Instead of getting overwhelmed by trying to tackle everything at once, the action plan isolates one area to focus on, the most impacting behavior. Then with this clear, guided focus on one best thing at a time, the CSR can fill their tool belt with the skills needed for success and build in the habits needed to sustain it.  

If a CSR demonstrates the behavior listed on their action plan in every call no matter what, does that make them successful? Good question... but no, not exactly. The most important thing about a good action plan is that it defines the right outcome first. Success is based on achieving the right outcome when the opportunity exists in the call, not in simply demonstrating the behavior itself. Yes, the action plan needs to outline a behavior, the “steps” to doing something well, but that is always secondary to the “outcome” the steps are designed for.

Define the right outcomes first and then let each CSR find and choose their own route, their own behavioral plan. In other words, before you agree on: “hammer this rock into a square” you first have to get to “Let’s build a pyramid.”

Take a look at the following examples. Notice how these are not behaviors, they are outcomes. They are also not metric numbers; they are customer experiences that a CSR creates. You can't choose a behavior until you define what that behavior is intended to do. Next, build a behavior based plan to achieve these outcomes. 

Examples of outcomes:

· Calm your customer, relax and reassure them and make them feel taken care of

· Gain call control and lead the call efficiently to save them time

· Get your customer’s to listen to your advice and consider it, teach them something new   

A goal that is behavior based is one that can be seen, heard and measured. By focusing CSR's on their own actions on a call, they can see not only progress but they can take charge of it. Further, since a behavior can be seen, heard and measured, feedback can be given immediately rather than waiting for results.

Setting a goal without clarifying what actions to take causes anxiety.  “If you’re under the number… good, if you’re over the number… bad”. That’s not development. By focusing on behaviors, development is based on something they can take action on, something within their control, their own actions.

Specifics are the name of the game. A good guide is a SMART goal.

SMART goal

Specific: What exactly should happen? When and Where? The more specific the better. 

Measurable: Can you clearly determine if it happened or not? How will you know?

Attainable: Is the goal challenging but still within reach? Will they grow by achieving it?

Relevant: Will it achieve the end result? The desired outcome as stated above?

Timely: By when? Setting a timeframe gives the sense of urgency to start now.

Here are behavior based plan examples based on the outcomes listed above. Both good and bad examples are listed to emphasize the difference. Notice how the outcome is an end result or effect of certain behavior. Notice the difference between the non-behavior based

plan and the behavior based plan. You can actually see, hear and measure the SMART goals where as the vague goals require a lot of imagination. There is no way to be on the same page with aligned expectations when the goal is vague.

If focusing on numbers only causes pressure anxiety, where do they fit when correctly focusing on behaviors instead? It’s ok to focus on metric results, after all, the results are what measure our level of success. The key is transferring the skill of linking behaviors to results to the CSR and ensuring they understand that if they

demonstrate the agreed upon behaviors then the metrics results will follow. They need to understand that the metrics are the result of doing the right things. Feel free to list these number goals right on the action plan, just make sure the how is very clear in SMART goal format.

After creating the action plan, it’s time to see what happens when the CSR begins taking calls again. Observe and assess asking these three basic

questions: Did they do it? Did they do it right? Did it work? Responses differ based on the findings. This is the essence of follow up.

Here are a couple workable examples. You can create your own or use one of these tried and true formats.

action plan example number 1

action plan example number 2

 Where is the action plan? The goal is behavior change and also alignment between the CSR, coach and senior. So, ideally there should be a paper print-out hung in the pod for the CSR and a copy for the senior’s side-by-side and 1:1 coaching's. It should also be listed in the PM tool with follow up.

Getting started: The best way to get started is to watch your peers. View several formats to find one that fits your style. Observe a 1:1 coaching where an action plan is developed. Relax knowing that your style will evolve over time.

Tools to help you track your plans:

action plan follow up form

Weekly Compliance Tracker