To do our job right, call center experts are developed by:

1. Setting clear expectations
2. Measuring performance
3. Providing consistent, timely, accurate performance feedback
4. Developing a personalized training plan
5. Developing expert skill through:
• Educating
• Modeling
• Practicing
• Applying
• Inventing

This process is called full spectrum coaching. Bullet points one through four can only be accomplished by people (with the help of enabling technology). Once one through four are complete, then it is the expert coach that will determine the best use of technology based training for point 5.

Technology based training can easily be used to:

• Educate (e.g., transfer knowledge about rate of speech),
• Model (e.g., model the proper rate of speech), and
• Practice (e.g., set up a session for the agent to practice rate of speech)

However, when it comes to applying and inventing there is once again a need for human intervention.

Application
The application phase takes place in the "real" environment of the call center. It consists of four stages. The coach controls the frequency of the first three stages. The employee controls the last. The first stage is the partnering stage. The coach is sitting with the employee in a highly interactive exchange. The coach decides who handles different parts of the call depending on the employee's demonstrated skill and comfort level.

The second stage is the support stage where the coach is once again sitting with the employee. However, in this stage, the employee is in full control of the call and the coach only takes control if the employee signals him to do so.

The third stage is a continuation of the support stage except the coach is at a remote location. As in the second stage, the coach will not intervene unless there is a request from the employee.

The final stage is the polish stage. The employee "goes solo" without coach intervention or constant, real-time monitoring. The employee is asked to start taking control of his own learning process by recording the areas of the call that felt strong or those that felt uncomfortable. The coach spends time with the employee after designated call handling sessions to "debrief" the experience.

Inventing
The invention phase is the last phase of skill development. The coach periodically observes the employee without any intervention. In this phase, the employee creatively explores and resolves anomalies between what is supposed to happen and what appears to be happening. He learns how to vary his behaviors according to the contexts of the call and the personalities of those involved. It is in this phase that the employee gains the highest level of skill mastery.