Time management and why it is important in customer support
Freshworks Academy has a community of pretty awesome people from multiple spheres of work. This shows in the varied points of view our members bring to light in discussions. We have a fortnightly discussion called a Coffee Chat about a predefined topic. This one deals with time management in support.
There are 24 hours in a day. Objectively, this seems to be a significant amount of time yet quite often, we find ourselves saying that we ‘have no time’ to achieve our tasks for the day. When we look at why, it comes down mostly to bad time management. By failing to plan the day and account for the time which minor tasks can eat up, your overall productivity may be affected.
The delay may even have repercussions on your future schedule because the things which you postpone today will have to be added to tomorrow’s workload. This is more so when it comes to customer support, because the job itself involves constantly being present and a great many things to do in a day, be it handling queries, resolving complaints, or just talking to one’s team about an issue. We asked our community, many of who work in a support role, questions about how they handled it. Here are their responses.
Q1. What time do you start work? How flexible are your timings, and do you work 8 hours a day?
Traditional jobs have historically followed a 9-to-5 timing, but let’s face it, these days, that isn’t the only possibility. An increasing number of companies offer flexible timings which really helps employees avoid hours wasted in traffic, for example. Some people might also be more creative outside the standard working hours and it might be easier for them to be productive if they’re given the option to work as and when they want. We asked our community members about how their days were and there were a few points on how to make customer support successful.
-The 9-to-5 cycle doesn’t always work for everyone, which is why flexible timings is important
-As long as you can handle your customer’s needs in time and your company allows it, you can work in a shift that is easy for you
-When you are helping customers from a different time zone, try to set your work hours accordingly
-Account for your SLA and business hours while you figure out your working hours.
Q2. Do you find it easy or hard to finish your tasks in 8 hours?
8 hours is a lot of time. But there are always distractions during the course of the day and often it can be hard to wrap up your things-to-do in the time you have. It only gets worse when the work you have from yesterday or the day before gets added to the things which you have to do today. Ultimately, the amount of work which you have should be manageable in the time you are at the office is what our community says. Here are their recommendations:
-8 hours usually seems to be enough to finish your daily tasks assuming you go about it in a systematic manner
-Take some time on the first day of your week to map out what you want to achieve for that week, and divide your tasks as needed
-Learn to prioritize your tasks according to importance
-It’s okay to work longer if there is a higher call volume or it’s a time of the year when tickets increase but overall, with efficient time management and planning, 8 hours is a decent chunk of time to fit your work into
-For instance, just pick a few things you want to achieve, even two major things. Do one in each half of your day, and it will add up over the week or month!
-Try to do things one at a time. Prioritize urgent tasks over the less urgent ones.
Q3. What are some tricks or tools for time management?
It can be easier to manage your time by using tools and techniques. For example, splitting your day into two pieces- before and after lunch (or whatever sort of divider you might like to use) and assigning a task to each half can help you complete them faster. You can also try using tricks like the Pomodoro technique to be more efficient. You can take a look at this video to see how you can be more productive, as well as the below suggestions:
-For making to-do lists, Trello and One Note are useful. You can try dividing things into Things to Do, Things You’re Currently Working On, And Things To Be Done, for example
-Jira and Freshrelease are great for tracking progress and workflow, and also for coordinating with the team
-Harvest can be used to track time and is useful especially if an employee is working from home
-Other good practices include figuring out how you’re spending your time. By using a tool like RescueTime, you can be more efficient and productive.
Q4. Is there a benefit to coming to work at a time other than the “usual” hours?
The human mind works differently for each individual. Some of us thrive in company, while others might prefer solitude to get their stuff done. A quiet environment might stifle some people while empowering others to get more things crossed off of their to-do-list. Depending on these factors, coming to work at a time that is outside the standard can prove to be a good decision if the company allows it. Some other points that our community made were:
-One of the main benefits is being able to concentrate better, especially if the office is emptier. You might be able to get more work done because you’re less likely to be distracted.
-You can skip the daily traffic by coming in earlier or later.
-If your job involves coordination with other people, you might need to work in the same shift. Work this out in advance.
Q5. Can you achieve an ideal work-life balance?
Work-life balance is something that is important for employees to feel satisfied both within their job and outside it. It is all the more relevant in customer support-related roles because the job involves solving people’s problems as soon as you can. A work-life balance might be hard to achieve in situations where there’s a lot to do during your day, especially if you haven’t planned it well. Below are some points our community members mentioned during the conversation:
– Too much work can make you less productive over time so ensure that you don’t overwork yourself
– Customer support is an often seasonal business, so one needs to ride the waves of higher and lower volumes. It’s okay if you work long hours during a peak period but ensure this isn’t the norm. Constant overworking can make you worn out and stressed
– If you work from home, ensure you can concentrate and work without disruption. Try to allocate a separate area for you to work from and keep it clean and distraction-free.
Q6. What does your plan for each day look like?
The key to making the hours count is proper planning. While this may seem to be a rather easy solution, it is nonetheless effective. Split your day into hours and map them to a task. Avoid setting unrealistic goals however. You know your capabilities, so plan accordingly. One of the biggest fallacies of planning is when you underestimate the time a task might take. Thus, the delays when you’re completing a task add up and ultimately derail you from your schedule. Here are a few tips to stay on track:
-Try to finish off your previous day’s pending tasks before you start today’s so as to avoid the stacking up of work and also reduce clutter
-Make a list of things you have done over the week and the month and see if you can do better or save more time. It also shows how efficient you are
-Set a fixed time to answer emails, messages, and the like as they can eat into large chunks of your day.
To conclude, while it may not seem to be significant, time management can greatly improve the quality of your life. Whether it might be drawing up a plan which is executable, accounting for possible delays, or simply keeping to the schedule you’ve drawn, efficient time management could make your day more productive. You can make sure that you’re on schedule for not only today but also for the rest of the week or month!
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