3 Tips for Choosing the Right Furniture & Office Layout to Create a Successful Call Center

If you are designing and furnishing your very first call center or revamping one you have managed or owned for years, then don't take office furniture and layout choices lightly. The right office layout can help keep each and every employee performing at their best, minimize the chances of noise from one employee affecting another, and keep employees comfortable. Follow these three tips to building an efficient call center. 

1. Know Who Needs an Escape from an Open-office Setup

Many of the most successful call centers in the world are run in an open-office setup. An open office is simply an office where each employee does not have his or her own room with a door to work in. However, it may benefit you to provide a full office to employees assigned to different tasks that are best performed in solitude, such as supervisors and IT staff. 

If you have a supervisor that needs to make important decisions on the spot, such as when a customer  deserves a pricey refund for a service-gone-wrong or faulty product, then their decision-making process may be hindered by the distraction of being out in the open office with the other representatives. Many experts also believe that IT professionals work best in a quiet office, and your noisy call center may hinder their ability to perform important tasks efficiently. 

If you simply don't have room in your office to provide separate spaces for supervisors and IT staff, then placing them in an area that is as far away from the rest of your workers as possible in high-wall cubicles can help give them the solitude they need to concentrate and make tough decisions. 

2. Choose Your Employee Seating Arrangement and Workstations Wisely

Once you have decided where to put other miscellaneous workers, it is time to focus on arranging the main office of your call center representatives that make up the bulk of your operation. First, no matter how you decide to arrange your desks, always mix senior and newer call center reps together in seating much as possible. This can help new employees learn from the senior employees by enabling them to watch and listen to them easily. New employees can then also ask the senior employee sitting next to them for help when they need help instead of having to walk across the room to do so. 

When choosing workstations, often still called cubicles, wall height is one choice you will have to make. Cubicle wall heights range from about 42-inches to about 80-inches, and remember the measurements are from the floor to the top of the walls. 

If you have given employees enough personal space to minimize noise distractions, then you can go with a lower wall height. You should ideally give each employee at least 120 square-feet of their own space to keep the sound of other employees' voices from distracting them from their own conversations with customers. However, if you have representatives packed tightly together, then high cubicle walls may be your best option to minimize noise pollution throughout your call center and help each employee focus on their own conversation with customers

3. Increase Employee Comfort and Morale with Chair Choices

When choosing chairs for your employees, remember that they don't get much time on their feet and will be sitting in them for many hours each day. Even if you have a limited budget, make sure you purchase comfortable chairs with softly cushioned seats and proper spinal support even if they cost a little more than you planned to spend on chairs. Your investment will pay off when employees are comfortable and it reflects in their positivity at work and good attitudes when dealing with customers. 

High-backed chairs help support employees's spines, and chairs with heights that can be adjusted are important for the comfort of your representatives of all heights. Choose durable vinyl or easy-clean microfiber upholstery to ensure that coffee spills don't stain. 

If you are opening a new call center or rearranging your current one, then follow these tips to improve employee productivity and keep employees comfortable with office furniture and layout choices. For more options contact services like D and R Office Works, Inc.