Monitoring Quality And Performance: Strategies For Success

how to monitor quality and performance

Monitoring quality and performance is essential for any business to succeed. It involves tracking employee performance and evaluating the quality of products and services to ensure they meet or exceed expectations. By doing so, businesses can identify areas of improvement, increase productivity, and enhance customer satisfaction. Effective monitoring also helps businesses make data-driven decisions, leading to better strategic planning and a more efficient allocation of resources. However, it is important to respect employee privacy and build trust when implementing monitoring practices. This can be achieved through transparency and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.

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Define quality criteria

To monitor quality, it is essential to first define quality criteria. This involves determining what quality means in the context of the specific scope, objectives, and requirements of the work. Quality criteria are measurable and verifiable attributes that indicate the expected and achieved levels of quality. They are based on customer needs, industry standards, regulations, best practices, or internal benchmarks. To be effective, quality criteria should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. They should also align with the organisation's quality policy, strategy, and vision.

When defining quality criteria, it is important to establish clear and measurable quality standards. This includes identifying specific requirements for materials, workmanship, finishes, and performance based on project specifications, codes, and best practices. Setting quantifiable metrics, such as acceptable tolerances, defect rates, and inspection pass rates, is crucial for evaluating quality. Communicating these standards to all stakeholders, including contractors, inspectors, and workers, ensures a shared understanding of "quality" in the project context.

Additionally, when defining quality criteria, it is essential to consider the needs and requirements of customers and stakeholders, as well as legal and regulatory standards. This helps to ensure that the quality criteria are realistic and achievable. By involving stakeholders in the process, organisations can benefit from diverse perspectives and create quality criteria that meet the expectations of all parties.

In summary, defining quality criteria is a critical first step in monitoring quality. It provides a clear framework for evaluating quality and ensures that all stakeholders are working towards the same quality goals. By establishing measurable standards, communicating them effectively, and considering the needs of customers and stakeholders, organisations can set themselves up for success in delivering high-quality products, services, or projects.

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Utilise monitoring software

Monitoring software is a valuable tool for contact centre managers, enabling them to measure and track agent performance and overall contact centre objectives. This software is a key component of quality management, which aims to ensure that customer interactions are consistent with the brand's promise.

Quality monitoring software allows managers to capture and review customer interactions, ensuring the delivery of an outstanding customer experience. It helps identify the root cause of problems and take timely steps to address issues. Furthermore, it can provide insights into customer expectations, allowing for the creation of unique evaluation forms for different scenarios and channels.

Advanced quality assurance software may include self-monitoring features, enabling agents to identify and correct potential issues in real time. It can also facilitate agent feedback and improvement.

When selecting a quality monitoring software, consider functionalities such as data sourcing, analytics, agent evaluation, and compliance. Additionally, ensure that the software can integrate with your existing systems and processes.

  • Time Doctor: Features time tracking, productivity reports, and screenshot functionality for efficient agent monitoring.
  • Talkdesk: Cloud-based contact centre solution with quality monitoring features, including voice recording, agent screen activity, and omnichannel transcripts.
  • Genesys Cloud CX: Omnichannel customer service software with quality management features to improve business outcomes and customer satisfaction.
  • Playvox: Contact centre tool offering comprehensive solutions for workforce management, quality management, and coaching.
  • NICE CXone: Web-based contact centre software with advanced quality management features, such as intelligent automation and customizable dashboards.
  • Five9: Cloud contact centre solution that enables quality assurance managers to monitor and coach remote and on-premise teams.
  • EvaluAgent: Call centre quality assurance software that can evaluate, train, and engage frontline agents, integrating with major CRM tools.
  • Calabrio ONE: Cloud-powered customer service platform with quality management and workforce optimization solutions.
  • Aircall: Cloud-based call centre software with advanced telephony and quality monitoring capabilities, integrating with CRM and helpdesk software.
  • Medallia Agent Connect: Customer service quality management platform that improves agent performance using customer feedback and real-time feedback.

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Set SMART goals

Setting SMART goals is a great way to monitor quality and performance. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Here are some steps and tips to help you set effective SMART goals:

Specific:

Be clear and precise about what you want to accomplish. Define the who, what, when, where, and why of your goal. Who needs to be involved? What exactly do you want to achieve? When and where will you take action? And why is this goal important?

Measurable:

Determine how you will measure the success of your goal. What metrics or data will you use? How will you evaluate your progress? Setting measurable goals helps you track your progress and know when you've achieved your objective.

Achievable:

Ensure your goal is realistic and within your capabilities. Do you have the necessary resources, time, and skills to achieve it? If not, can you obtain them? Setting achievable goals helps maintain motivation and dedication.

Relevant:

Make sure your goal aligns with your broader objectives, values, or long-term vision. How does this goal contribute to your overall success? Relevance helps ensure that your efforts are focused and effective.

Time-bound:

Set a clear deadline or timeline for your goal. When do you plan to start and finish? Creating a sense of urgency can help you stay motivated and on track.

Additional Tips:

  • Break down your goal into smaller, more manageable components if it's complex.
  • Be flexible and open to adjustments as you work towards your goal.
  • Regularly monitor your progress and make changes as needed.
  • Celebrate your achievements and learn from your setbacks.

By setting SMART goals, you can transform vague ideas into concrete, achievable targets that help you monitor quality and performance effectively.

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Collect quality feedback

Collecting quality feedback is an essential part of monitoring quality and performance. Here are some methods to collect feedback:

Customer Feedback Surveys

A popular method of collecting feedback is through surveys. These can be long-form or short-form, and can be distributed through email or as pop-up surveys on your website. When creating a survey, it is important to keep it concise and only ask questions that are necessary to meet your goals. It is also important to create consistent rating scales and avoid leading or loaded questions.

Email and Customer Contact Forms

Email is an easy way to collect feedback as it is a support channel for most companies. To increase the likelihood of a response, set clear expectations and let the customer know when they can expect to hear back from you. Organise the feedback you receive and make sure to respond, otherwise, customers may feel let down.

Exploratory Customer Interviews

Reaching out to customers directly allows for more detailed and nuanced feedback. It is important to ask open-ended questions, allowing customers to provide detailed responses about their experiences and feelings. Active listening is key, and it is beneficial to maintain eye contact and mirror the client to keep the spotlight on them.

On-Site Activity (via Analytics)

For digital products or services, analytics can provide valuable insights into how users interact with your company. For example, you can see the number of people visiting each article or page and the average time spent on each. This data can help you understand what is and isn't working, and make improvements accordingly.

Instant Feedback from Your Website

Embedding an on-site widget, such as a feedback form or survey, on your website allows you to collect instant feedback from customers without having to ask them any questions directly. This can be an efficient way to gain insights and make improvements.

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Perform quality audits

Quality audits are a crucial aspect of an organisation's quality management system and are integral to the ISO quality system standard, ISO 9001. They are periodic, systematic, and independent evaluations that can be conducted internally or externally to ensure compliance with established standards and requirements.

When performing quality audits, it is essential to follow these steps:

Planning and Preparation

Begin by creating an action plan that outlines all activities and their respective timelines. Identify the scope of the audit, including the processes, departments, products, or areas to be audited. Identify and gather all relevant documentation, such as quality policies or procedures. This stage also involves creating a preliminary list of interviewees and familiarising the audit team with the company's Quality Management System (QMS).

Execution

The execution phase involves collecting information to determine if the department is adhering to established quality control standards and procedures. Interview relevant individuals, asking questions and taking detailed notes. Based on the findings, the scope of the audit plan may change, leading to a deeper evaluation. Any non-conformities or deviations from standardised processes should be recorded during this stage.

Closure and Follow-up

Once the audit execution is complete, the audit team meets to review problem areas and determine corrective actions. This information is compiled into an Audit Results report, which serves as a basis for strategic meetings with leaders. The report helps evaluate results and define improvement actions, leading to corrective work post-audit.

Benefits of Quality Audits

Quality audits offer several advantages for organisations:

  • Adherence to conformities and achievement of recognised certificates, such as ISO.
  • Process improvement and increased operational efficiency.
  • Compliance with mandatory industry regulations and standards.
  • Rapid identification and correction of non-conformities to minimise negative impacts.
  • Risk reduction and enhanced corporate governance.
  • Increased customer satisfaction and market credibility.

Frequently asked questions

Monitoring staff performance allows managers to gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of their staff's work and identify areas for improvement. It can also help to improve employee engagement, productivity, motivation, and well-being across teams.

There are several ways to monitor staff performance, including using monitoring software, checking in regularly with team members, setting realistic goals and key performance indicators (KPIs), implementing self-monitoring tools, and asking for feedback from colleagues and other managers.

Some common methods for monitoring quality include defining quality criteria, selecting quality tools, performing quality audits, collecting and analyzing quality data, and implementing quality improvements.

To measure quality, you should first decide on the specific factors you want to measure and establish a method for tracking them. Then, determine the metrics and methods for measurement, establish quality assurance procedures, create and standardize policies for future quality measurement, and periodically revisit and revise quality standards as needed.

Monitoring employees in the workplace is an important part of a manager's role. This can include visually monitoring employees, using task management software, spot-checking progress on longer projects, and directly communicating with employees about their performance.

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