Call centres are big business, and in South African today, one of the main objectives for outsourced call centres is to obtain offshore business.

This business is currently being outsourced to India, which has become the world’s call centre Mecca. Mandy Todd, an independent call centre consultant for Avocado Vision says that currently South Africa does not enjoy a fair share of the international call centre market due to a number of reasons, the primary one being labour issues. Added to that is the fact that South Africa’s telecommunication costs are the highest in the world, and previously our VOIP facilities were not up to scratch, which has since improved.

Todd says that South Africa’s labour problems in the call centre arena stem from our education and skills challenges. In comparison, even though unemployment is high in India, the workers all have a certain level of education and skill. An international delegation visited South Africa a few years back to undertake an analysis of how South Africa could compete as a global player in the call centre market. Coupled with statistics from a survey undertaken by the Department of Labour, figures indicate that 20% of the South African workforce is skilled, with the other 80% semi –skilled or unskilled. In the USA, these statistics are reversed. Seventy percent of the US labour market is skilled, with only 30% falling into the semi-skilled and unskilled category.

The international delegation also found that the South African middle management sector has a big skills gap when it comes to the  management required for call centres. In international markets, call centres form the hub of a business, so it goes without saying that international companies will not outsource this vital component of their business to unskilled people.

Furthermore, South Africans often battle to understand the culture of the international business market. “Because English is not a first language for many South African employees, they may also experience problems in correctly interpreting written communications,” comments Todd.

Call centres are a highly controlled environment from a labour point of view. Everything is closely measured - from how many calls an operator takes, to how many calls they drop and how long they spend on each call. “It is a highly stressful environment because the operators have to deal with clients who are rude and dissatisfied and outright angry on a regular basis. This is coupled with the pressure they feel from having their performance measured so closely all the time. They also have to be up-to-date and able to operate the latest communication technology,” says Todd.

Due to all these dynamics, a very different set of management skills are required in a call centre environment. These skills revolve around motivating teams, understanding team dynamics and cultural diversity. Call centre managers also need to be equipped to deal with the stress of the employees and assist in diffusing and alleviating this stress.

In addition, call centre managers need to coach people for excellence, they need to understand call centre metrics, how to use these systems and procedures to the advantage of the call centre, as well as cost management and how to get more for less. Correct staffing is also paramount for a successful call centre operation, and managers, aside from staffing correctly, will also need to understand and implement cost saving areas with regards to staff and creating better working mechanisms.

Todd suggests that call centres should look at a different staff payment model. “They should pay staff based on performance instead of a flat rate, and in that way motivate a better level of performance and incentivise the staff,” she says. Call centre management is a people oriented role. In South Africa, managers are traditionally 80% task oriented and 20% people oriented. Internationally managers operate the other way around with 80% of their focus on the people that they manage. This indicates that the people component is definitely missing from the South African call centre management arena, which often results in unhappy labour and therefore high staff turnovers.

From all this, it is evident that training for middle management of the call centre industry is a vital component that is sadly lacking in South Africa. Todd recommends a dynamic middle management curriculum, a course that will result in a recognised qualification. To address this clear gap in the market, Avocado Vision, which was established in 1996 by interpersonal communications specialist, Juliet Newton, to specifically address the need for businesses to manage the ‘people connections’ interface, has developed a call centre management and discipline curriculum that provides a comprehensive training intervention for the middle management of call centre industry.

Among other things, this course includes a people component, possibly the most important skill for call centre managers. This section provides managers with the tools for effectively measuring staff performance and developing a compensation and recognition model. Motivating teams, being a good, inspirational leader, coaching and mentoring as well as handling of conflict and conflict resolution also forms part of this curriculum.

Call centre managers need a thorough understanding of the processes of the business. In a call centre environment, processes need to be well defined and followed to the letter in order to achieve success. This section of the course teaches managers how to establish and implement effective processes, the process workflow, supporting documentation and on-desk material for staff. It also provides managers with the skills to control, audit and improve on existing processes and teach them how to undertake a root cause analysis to find out where processes are failing.

Performance is key in any business, and call centres managers need to have an intimate understanding of the drivers of staff satisfaction, proper resource utilisation, the cost of poor quality work and the design and implementation of a quality staff programme. Lastly, the course looks at workforce management and equips call centre managers with the correct tools for staffing and scheduling on which each and every call centre is heavily reliant.

There are many training institutions that deal with bits and pieces of what is required for call centre training. “Leadership courses abound, as do those on people skills, but there is no comprehensive curriculum directed at the call centre market specifically,” says Todd, who goes on to say that the problem with most leadership and coaching courses is that delegates walk away unable to apply what they have learnt in the workplace. “That is because the knowledge is gained in isolation,” says Todd.

If South Africa wants to be a true global player in the international call centre market, it has never been more crucial for local call centres to reassess their operating mechanisms and staff training. “South Africa as a country needs to be able to operate in that international space, which will result in wealth and job creation,” Todd concludes.

Decansos - “the makeshift roadside shrines that symbolise loss and transformation”. Courage - “will in extreme difficulty”.

Decansos and Courage both imply moral strength to nurture and persevere. Decansos - Spanish for resting place marking the spot where there has been a death - ressurection: rest within the very symbol of pain. In order to heal, we need to go back to a place of grief and loss.To do this takes courage - Decansos.

On the April 6th,2006 Tracy and I had the privilege of taking our Nedbank delegates to Robben Island to start the first leg of their Decansos programme.

The Decansos programme allows the delegates to revisit places of hardship or turmoil in an attempt to heal . While our basis is understanding and acceptance of the diversity of our country, the Decansos journey is a incredibly personal one.

Every person born of South African origin has a story to tell. Whether they fought in the struggle, whether they were conscripted, whether the threw a stone or were a consciencious objector …we all have stories, and all of them are powerful. The program is as much about understanding yourself as it is about understanding others and accepting others.

The Decansos programme started with us getting insights into the lives of those who work on the island. We chatted to Derek Basson and listening to him, to his childhood, his understanding of his motives, and feeling his pain and melancholy I was struck by his almost hopeful outlook for our future. In fact he challenged Tracy and I. As we drew our conversation with him to a close he commended Avo for the work we were undertaking to build bridges of understanding but he also asked us how we were going to reach out to others who had no platform to tell their stories. Yes, he was talking about all those who were conscripted, all those who were imprisioned for fighting the conscription campaign, and all those who were on the borders and in the security police. I, for one, stood in awe of that request. I had as yet not thought about the other side (being black and part of the struggle myself) or of the turmoil they must go through on a daily basis. I wonder where all those poeple are…who’s helping them heal? Derek told Tracy and I about a member of the security forces who had been on his tour, who broke down and cried who needed to tell his story. I was humbled that Derek, who had been imprisioned for fighting Apartheid, now saw the need to heal his former enemies. Derek felt his pain. If he can do it so can I.

This interaction set the tone for the program.

As I look through the arial pics of the island, I notice the airstrip. It forms a cross on the far side of the island. Very poignant. I suddenly realise that this place of banishment, of misery, of human frailty is for some many people a Decansos. Derek, Eugene , Lionel and so many others who live and work in their place of pain and difficulty find courage and hope by telling their stories.

That’s what this program is about: it is about making yourself vulnerable, it’s about stripping away the protctive layers that we have shrouded ourselves in and allowing ourselves to communicate with, and interact with, an unknown.

It moves beyond the theoretical basis of diversity, it moves beyond the clinical understanding of culture and it grapples with the heart of our pain. It allows us to display and interact with our fears and misunderstandings. It allows us to relate to, discuss and explore our interpretations of events and it allows us to acknowledge our fraility. It is perhaps one of the most difficult journeys one could take in your life time but it is for me the most worthwhile.

Too often we assume that because Apartheid is over and we are all basically nice people we should just understand our differences and just get along. If only it was that simple.

Our workplaces have become such a melting pot of cultures, views, opinions, and ways of being in and understanding the world that superficial acceptance just does not make for real team integration. By allowing our own vulnerability to show, by showing and eagerness to learn about others and accept them we build the strongest bridges of all.

It is really incredible that corporate companies like Nedbank are challenging and growing their teams by taking them on programs like ‘Decansos’. What they are effectively saying is : We want more for our people, our clients, and more for our country !

Well done Sharon Kersten !!

Every time I see what this program does for people I understand my role and my passion in this country.

The Brand of One: Sell yourself well - you are your own product

We are facing a business world that has changed fundamentally. In a world where everything is different, the only thing we can rely on is unpredictability, and so a new working order is emerging.

It is the individual that is fleet-of-foot and alert to the changes signaled in their environment that will be the survivor of this age. And it is now that the true ‘brand of one’ emerges: people who are on a journey of constant evolution and self-discovery know that to survive and meet the demands this new world throws at us, our ability to market ourselves effectively has never been more key.

It is because people are realising that they are responsible for their own present and future that building a personal brand that manages both customer expectations and personal integrity has become a very necessary element in modern business practice.

Selling yourself well is no longer something that happens by mistake and it is too important to leave to chance, so this talk will teach people how to read their markets, themselves and then build a strong personal brand that blends their market’s expectations with the uniqueness of who they are.

Mind the Gap: Communicating across the generations

Intergenerational conflict is not only something that happens between parents and their errant offspring. Research shows that a lot of uncomfortable personal relations happen in the workplace as a product of conflicting value systems of different generations. In order to understand staff and customers, it is important to get an insight into their value systems.
We have known for many decades that our value systems are largely in place by the age of 10. Startling, more recent research is pointing to the fact that world events and moods that happen during the formative years of any generation’s life have a profound impact on the outlook and value system of that generation as a whole.

This talk looks at the fundamental shift in paradigm companies are experiencing as they start coming to grips with this concept including:

• Tailor-make their marketing strategies by speaking a values-based language that the different targeted segments understand
• Change their staff-retention strategies to meet the differing needs of the different generations that work for them
• Change their client retention programmes to target the right strategy at the right customer group
• Manage customer care programmes by solving issues in ways that suit the client generational value profile.

We have all been raised in a culture that has its own ways of thinking and seeing the world. That way of seeing the world and interpreting things in a certain way is often so strong, that when faced with people who do things in another way, their behaviour feels wrong. It is almost impossible to understand them: their way is often seen as ‘wrong’ because it is different from the way we do things.

We all need to realise that every culture has a richness in history and tradition, and is as valid as our own, even though we can’t understand the behaviour properly because it feels odd.

Awareness of the different ways in which the diverse range of people in our world operate within their cultures enables people to interpret behaviour as it was intended, even though it may feel foreign or even rude when they see it through their own cultural filter.

Introduction

Once individuals begin to understand the differences in respect to language between people of different cultural backgrounds, they will start to be able to interpret and respond to the different needs of callers. Even good manners and basic human decency have different behavioural interpretations depending on what culture you’re viewing them from. They will develop awareness around how to become the cultural chameleon, reading the signals of their colleagues and clients and responding so that the recipient feels comfortable.
Part of becoming the Global Professional is about raising your awareness of the different ways in which diverse peoples of our world operate within their cultures, so that you will be able to interpret behaviour as it was intended, even though it may feel foreign, or even rude, to you when you see it through your own cultural filter.
A common example may help you understand: in South Africa there are some people who will show respect by dropping their eyes and reducing eye contact. For other South Africans, reducing eye contact is seen as a sign of being devious, dishonest, or showing a sense of shame. Without any form of cultural fluency, a person trying to demonstrate his respect for another by dropping his eyes could be interpreted by the other as appearing to be dishonest he will not trust him. Communication between these two will be severely hampered, as they don’t understand one another’s intentions.

Benefits

Cultural Fluency helps delegates understand the basic assumptions that are experienced in cultures across the world, and are evident in the diversity of South Africans. It communicates a message of gaining insight and understanding to help everyone reach a more effective level of communication. The material is communicated in a light-hearted, engaging and non-threatening manner that builds understanding without confronting people with painful lessons from the past.

Logistics

The talk is 1/2 a day long, but can be adapted to fit programmes with different timing requirements.
Training interventions for this session are created depending on the specific requirements of each client.

We’ve all had to sit through the ‘death-by-PowerPoint’ experience before! But have you ever asked yourself whether you are inflicting that pain on other people with your own PowerPoint creations?

Sometimes, rather than being an effective aid that compliments a great presentation, visuals are becoming distracting and irritating. They’re too full, too small, too corny, too old, too boring or just too over the top. This programme aims to help presenters develop skills to prepare slide presentations that enable a clearly defined structure and content, are visually congruent with their message and audience friendly. Emphasis is particularly made on how to decode complicated data in a way that speaks to ‘less graph-literate’ audiences.

Introduction

We’ve all had to sit through the ‘death-by-PowerPoint’ experience before!
You’ve seen them all, graphics and tables that are badly constructed, cartoons that move, zoom or explode, ‘ping’ sounds and other strange noises, all of which are completely unrelated to the presentation. Data that is presented instead of results, results presented which cannot be read and often the messages communicated in graphs and tables are obscure, unclear, or too complicated to be understood in the presentation space.
A Presenter’s PowerPoint aims to help presenters develop skills to prepare slide presentations that enable a clearly defined structure and content, are visually congruent with their message and are audience friendly. It focuses on those aspects of PowerPoint, which are most regularly used to create impactful visual aids that compliment a presenter’s message.

Benefits

The ability to present effectively is becoming a minimum expectation for performance, a critical skill in a highly competitive and dynamic business environment and an invaluable tool for improving your position on the totem pole. PowerPoint is the primary tool used, which can either enable or cripple your presentation.
A Presenter’s PowerPoint is designed, firstly, for people who regularly create and deliver presentations using PowerPoint and secondly, for PA’s, secretaries or the PowerPoint expert in the team, individuals who build PowerPoint presentations for someone else.

• Learn to structure and communicate in a simple, interesting and effective manner.
• Understand those aspects of PowerPoint that are most effective when creating a presentation.
• Understand layout principles for visually powerful messages.
• Maximise benefits of using this powerful medium

Logistics

Presenters PowerPoint workshop is a half day/5 hour workshop. Delegates must have a working knowledge of PowerPoint to qualify to attend.

The concept of negotiation is relatively easy to understand. However, mastering the art is a whole lot more complicated and difficult to accomplish because it not only involves techniques, but also requires certain behavior that is not always easy to adopt. In fact many people are intimidated by the mere thought of having to negotiate with someone else and although they will usually do their best to get a good deal, they may well be losing out more often than they realize.

Introduction

Negotiation is a process and it requires a positive attitude, sound knowledge and plenty of practice in order to be able to manage successfully with confidence and ease. That said, the benefits of being a competent negotiator far outweigh the effort it might take to get there. This program provides a solid understanding of the theoretical aspects of negotiation, as well as an opportunity to practice, transfer and apply the theory and techniques into everyday sales situations.

Benefits

On completion of this program, you will:

• Fully understand the nature of negotiation and the associated benefits;
• Understand the key concepts of negotiations, negotiation relationships and negotiation styles;
• Understand the role of their own personality and conflict handling disposition in negotiations;
• Be able to prepare and plan for a negotiation;
• Understand all the factors that affect the climate of the negotiation and how to use these to best advantage;
• Understand how to negotiate for common ground;
• Understand how to conduct truly persuasive communication;
• Understand how to deal with conflict and aggression;
• Be able to demonstrate the capability to apply these fundamental negotiation skills.

Logistics

Negotiate a Better deal is a three day course, comprising of three sessions.
Session One covers the major theoretical elements of negotiation as well as the human behaviour required in order to be successful.

Session Two covers the fundamental steps required, to plan and prepare adequately prior to negotiation and what factors can affect the climate in which the negotiation takes place.

Session Three covers how to find the common ground in the negotiation, how to ask questions and answer them as well as how power is gained and lost and when it is best used. The session will also cover how to master persuasive communication in order to gain advantage, sway opinions and change attitudes.

With most business communication initiatives, people aim to provide others with a great experience with the purpose of forging a strong relationship, but people can often be difficult to deal with. Through using the Transactional Analysis model, delegates will learn how to keep their cool while dealing with difficult clients as well as how to manage themselves in the face of abrasive clients or tough conversations with colleagues.

Introduction

When someone in our business lets a client down they usually are not doing it on purpose. Actually many of us who work with clients, whose bread and butter comes from clients do not consciously and vindictively let our clients down. Mostly we want to give them a great experience, we want to do the best for them and grow the relationship with them.
However, sometimes things go wrong and we don’t delight our customer, we do our best to correct the situation but it is still very difficult to deal with a client who is darn-right angry with us. So we mentally shut down or we feel tempted to give them a serious piece of our mind or we just struggle to deal with the situation emotionally.

Benefits

The key to understanding our reactions lie in understanding our different ego states, the Parent, the Child and the Adult. During difficult interactions we may find ourselves responding instinctively in an ego state that triggers an emotional or irrational response and so may jeopardise our relationship with the person we are trying to communicate with.
Understanding the Fragile Relationship Balance explores the different ego states that we all have within us. Understanding why we respond in these ego states is key to knowing how to deal with a difficult person and is key to understanding our own emotions and responses when faced with these situations.

Logistics

Dealing Conflict can be run as a half day workshop or it can be a one hour talk that will be interesting, fun, interactive and educative. The content is divided into the following sections:

• Introduction - role play
• Understanding the three ego states
• Understanding why and how we respond in different situations
• How to practically apply the knowledge
• Close

The ability to present effectively is becoming a minimum expectation for performance, a critical skill in a highly competitive and dynamic business environment and an invaluable tool for improving your position on the totem pole. If you’ve done the basics in presentations, and you’ve got some serious experience under your belt, you may be looking for the next thing that will help you lift your game into the arena of Mastery. This is it. But this programme is not for novices. If you’re worried about your own entry-level skills on delivering presentations, rather attend our 2-day On the Spot programme. You really have to crack the basics before you can break the rules well.

Introduction

This programme is not for novices. If you’re worried about your own entry-level skills on delivering presentations, rather attend our 2-day On the Spot programme. You really have to crack the basics before you can break the rules well. The format of the day is built around action learning methodologies. Delegates will be expected to prepare thoroughly before they attend the programme: they will receive a skills refresher booklet which they will be expected to have prepared in advance, and then come prepared with a rehearsed 10-minute presentation, pertinent to their existing working context, with visual aids prepared. As they deliver their presentations, the facilitator will coach, and work with skills gaps specific to the individuals in the group. The theoretical aspects of the content will be covered as part of this methodology, as the issues arise.

This is a challenging and robust process. Our highly skilled coaches will work live with the team, and delegates should prepare themselves for a mentally and physically taxing day. Beginners should not attend.

Benefits

• Working the room means being able to deviate from the script: You’ve been there. Every duck is in its row. The slides are spot-on. The figures are perfect. The intro is rolling off your tongue when the curve balls start coming and the tapdance begins. Be ready to deal whatever comes at you.
• We learn best when we are able to see our own strengths and weaknesses. Watch yourself in action. Whatever you do will be captured on camera and dropped onto CD. You can continue to work your game long after the day you spend with us: keep watching, keep learning, keep tapdancing!
• Getting real. This means that we have to be authentic when we communicate with people. The day will provide the opportunity for you to understand how to maximise your unique personality and presentation style. People will buy from you because they trust you: they can sense that what they see is what they get.
• Find out which rules you’re best at breaking. Truly coming to terms with your strengths is the most powerful thing you can learn about this game. Your coach will help you see that stuff more clearly.

Logistics

The Boardroom Tapdance programme is built for a maximum of 8 and a minimum of 5 people. It is designed to run over a period of one full day. Company programmes can be booked or individuals can be sent on open programmes.

The reality is presentations are often uncomfortable. Some of us are terrified by presenting, others wonder how they could improve and make their presentations a little more dynamic or a little more interactive, while others walk away from their presentations disappointed because it didn’t go the way they wanted. Yet we all know it’s a critical business tool.

The ability to present effectively is becoming a minimum expectation for performance, a critical skill in a highly competitive and dynamic business environment and an invaluable tool for improving your position on the totem pole.

“By implementing a clearer, more structured approach to my presentations and general communication, I have seen a significant increase in the buy-in from my audiences. I’m getting the results I want. Implementing what I learned on your programme has really opened doors for me.”
Thabo Lebelo, Anglo American

Introduction

The reality is presentations are often uncomfortable. Some of us are terrified by presenting, others wonder how they could improve and make their presentations a little more dynamic or a little more interactive, while others walk away from their presentations disappointed because it didn’t go the way they wanted. Yet we all know it’s a critical business tool.

This programme combines a comfortable depth of theory and understanding rules, with many opportunities to test learning and try out new things in a relaxed and encouraging environment with the input of a highly skilled coach.

The ability to present effectively is becoming a minimum expectation for performance, a critical skill in a highly competitive and dynamic business environment and an invaluable tool for improving your position on the totem pole.

Benefits

• A sustainable investment. Avocado Vision believes that people only change when they can see what the benefits are for them. The intensive 2-day course allows the delegate to deeply listen, learn and practice skills in a supportive environment. This ensures that the skills are internalised and that the delegate leaves the course knowing that they have grown in a tangible way.
• We learn best when we are able to see our own strengths and weaknesses. Delegates are expected to demonstrate and practice every skill taught. They are filmed and are given the opportunity to see themselves in action. They leave the course with the knowledge and tools to continually hone their abilities and to make themselves master presenters.
• In today’s world, business takes place everywhere. One can sell at the gym, in a coffee shop or in an auditorium. The skills taught on the course will make a dramatic difference to the way people communicate, wherever the business opportunity arises.
• Business is gained and lost according to how effectively we communicate our message. A huge emphasis is placed on the careful structuring of the message so that it can be communicated in a simple but powerfully appropriate way. Simply put, the message is only going to be heard if it directly meets the needs of the audience. It is not about what we are saying, it is how we choose to say it.

We buy people. Avocado Vision believes that people buy people rather than the product. This means that we have to be authentic when we communicate with people. The course provides the opportunity for delegates to understand how to maximise on their unique personality/presentation style.

Mark or example of someone who is able to practice all the basic presentation skills. The programme makes use of practical presentation exercises, group discussions and debates and video feedback to help internalise the concepts introduced. On completion the delegate receives both written and video feedback from the instructor.

Logistics

The presentation skills programme is built for a maximum of 10 and a minimum of 8 people. It is designed to run over a period of two full days. Company programmes can be booked or individuals can be sent on open programmes scheduled for the dates below.

For companies that cannot afford to take delegates out of their working environment for a full two day programme, we do offer specially customised modular programmes, which can be run at times more suitable to the client.