PlanMen works with a fixed model, that was especially developed by PlanMen in line with the company philosophy . This model is successfully used either wholly or in part in all assignments. "The 6-step wheel"!

The forecast

Or worded better: A forecast. Often there are several forecasts at different levels for different activities that serve different goals. A short-term, mid-term and long-term forecast gives an insight into the workload that can be expected, the AHT (average handling time) and, not forgetting the expected pool of staff and corresponding gross/net ratios and availability. The various goals used for a forecast provide an indispensable foundation for the Planning, HR, Finance, ICT, Marketing and Training & Development departments, with regard to the contact centre.

The scheduling

When scheduling, supply and demand for work, Intraday, are balanced with one another as optimally as possible. This results in a schedule for the staff and the operations. Changes to the schedule are also part of this sub-process.

The daily management

Depending on the choice that is made, the daily management can be carried out by the planners, or can be supported by the planners. Where appropriate, a dedicated Traffic Manager is also utilised, who is part of the planning department. Daily management is a necessity, because the implementation of staffing, workload and/or AHT will always deviate from the forecast.

Reporting

The planning department is on top of the figures like none other. It is for that reason that reports will always have to be produced by the planners, if required with additional explanations. In addition, the reports will be used as historic data.

Analysis

Why does the implementation deviate from the forecast and what lessons can be learned from that, that contribute to an improvement of the quality of the planning and forecasting products and the corresponding performance of the contact centre. In short, the forecast, the schedule and the implementation have to be analysed.

Advising

The analyses result in recommendations for improvements that have to go to the department in which the anlysis was carried out or to other departments within the organisation. The knowledge and insights of the planners are valuable sources of information for the operations.