Running a successful dispatching call center is no easy feat, especially when it comes to managing stressed out employees. One of the most common questions asked by managers is how to help employees deal with stress and frustration resulting from interactions with demanding or less-than-friendly customers. The answer is surprisingly simple!
Ways to Help Employees Deal with Stress
Being in charge of a call center or dispatching office means that part of your job is to help your employees succeed by showing them:
- How stress affects the body & mind
- Techniques to alleviate stress
- How to overcome a difficult workday
- Giving employees autonomy
- Encourage positive socialization
What Effect is Stress Having on Your Employees?
Recent studies have shown that anxiety causes inflammation throughout the body leading to increased stress hormones, heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and even a weakened immune system. Learning the proper coping techniques will help your employees improve their:
- Concentration
- Level of productivity
- Frustration tolerance
- Short-term memory
- Overall mood
Education is always the first step toward improvement. If your goal is to help employees deal with stress, you and your staff members will first need to learn about its effects. Only then can you create a strategy to overcome it.
Useful Stress Management Techniques
Work-related stress is a powerful force, but there are several simple tips and techniques you can teach your employees to mitigate its effects. Anxiety is as much a physical issue as is it a mental one, so being mindful and controlling your body can work wonders.
Learn to Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is one of the best techniques for mastering anxiety and stress. Learn how to practice mindfulness by reading some of these bestsellers:
The Four Agreements (Short, easy read)
The Power of Now (Longer, more theoretical read)
The power of mindfulness is rooted in your ability to recognize stress triggers and deal with them right away so they don’t take over your mind.
As soon as you notice anxiety or stress, take slow, deep breaths. Step away from your desk, splash some water on your face, listen to soothing music, or even laughing as hard as you can.
Get Exercise Daily
You don’t have to be an athlete to get the benefits of exercise. Just a simple 30-minute walk can help relieve stress.
If you have an employee whose stress is interfering with their ability to provide great customer service, ask them to take a break and go for a short walk.
As a preventative measure, encourage employees to get some physical activity before work or on a lunch break. Running, stretching, or even yoga can help reduce stress. This will help you clear your mind of any lingering work-related anxiety.
Take Nothing Personally
While it’s certainly unfortunate that customers can be impolite from time to time, taking their comments as personal attacks will only hurt your employee’s morale and work performance over time. You’ll need to impress upon your staff members that even though a customer is saying their name, it doesn’t mean that they know them.
The best approach is to turn these situations into a challenge as a way to improve yourself and your customer service. Tell your employees to use it as an opportunity to be extra-nice and see if they can turn the situation into a more positive experience.
Empower Your Employees
Giving your agents autonomy can be empowering and helps to reduce their stress. Allow them to make their own decisions, be flexible with customers, and develop their own personal approach to the job.
Even the perception of empowerment is enough to decrease workplace anxiety, so make your workers feel like they’re essential members of the team.
Encourage them to Socialize
If you really want to help employees deal with stress, the best thing you can do is to encourage positive social interaction between coworkers. Whether it be on lunch breaks, before or after work, or even at after-hours events, laughing and getting to know your co-workers builds camaraderie and moral support throughout the office.
Colleagues who like and support each other are more likely to maintain a positive attitude at work and are less easily offended by challenging customers. Do all you can to foster a friendly work environment for your staff members.
Do you need professional call center dispatching assistance for the appliance repair, plumbing, HVAC, or other service industries? Get your free, no-obligation quote from New Vision today!