Multiple tasks

Seanachai

I have been working on a chat feature in work for a while now and I quit it today, we are expected to speak to two people simultaneously and it just fried my brains esp if both questions were technical. Does anybody here think that it's reasonable to expect somebody to speak to two people simultaneously, possibly continuously on a Monday. Would you like to contact your bank or phone provider and know that the support agent is speaking to somebody else at the same time and probably distracted trying to find an answer?.

I offered to stay on chat but I was told that I must be willing to answer two at a time. I think it's too much to expect of somebody.

Nody

It's very common; most people can't type fast enough and do the checks etc. that it makes no sense to sit and wait for someone to respond. A lot of the responses you need to give are also default questions so you can have macros ready to roll out the default answers while working on the other (i.e. welcome to Company; what is your problem? Have you tried to reset? What was the result? Have you xxx) etc. to deal with a lot of the conversation and fix the problems.

Mrs OBumble

Only two at once? I strongly suspect that the support agents who I occasionally chat with are working 3-4 jobs at the same time.


(for anyone who's confused, this is on-line chat, not physically talking to people)

Seanachai

Nody wrote: »

It's very common; most people can't type fast enough and do the checks etc. that it makes no sense to sit and wait for someone to respond. A lot of the responses you need to give are also default questions so you can have macros ready to roll out the default answers while working on the other (i.e. welcome to Company; what is your problem? Have you tried to reset? What was the result? Have you xxx) etc. to deal with a lot of the conversation and fix the problems.

The queries I get are often very technical and the customers very demanding (some are full-on headcases), I'm a very fast typist so there's no issues in that regard. If they get a sense that you are copying and pasting they will actually say it. Using standard responses will usually only work for the routine 'soft' customer service type queries.

For me personally it lead to migraines, I've never suffered from headaches before. It seems to be something to do with the eye-tracking or something. That and the stress of having two conversations at the same time, one may be a battle with an irate customer with them arguing for something that isn't possible and the other a complex wi-fi connection problem. When I was doing it I often got customers writing hello???????? after being missing for five secs talking to the other customer!.

The other people on the team have also mentioned being fed up with it, it's shocking to hear that some people have to do three or four at the same time!. It's a recipe for burnout, the ironic thing is they're sending around pamphlets about minding your mental health and enforcing this policy at the same time. Eat some more bananas and go for more walks but it's okay to speak to multiple people at the same time for an entire work day, it doesn't make sense to me tbh.

Seanachai

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Only two at once? I strongly suspect that the support agents who I occasionally chat with are working 3-4 jobs at the same time.


(for anyone who's confused, this is on-line chat, not physically talking to people)

It's wrong afaik, I know for a fact that it leads to mistakes being made and customers being sent wrong information and buying the wrong accessories etc based on this. You need to be focused on one task not distracted by this and that while communicating with somebody.

Kia_Kaha

I work for a well known tech giant and I am on double chats all day, every day. I am looking for a new job it's so stressful, so I feel your pain.

Only advise I can offer is: Take your time, do your best. As Nody said, use macros, anything that can stall for time 'I am looking into this right now and I'll be back with you within a couple of minutes. I’ll be as quick as I can.' that sort of thing.

Seanachai

Kia_Kaha wrote: »

I work for a well known tech giant and I am on double chats all day, every day. I am looking for a new job it's so stressful, so I feel your pain.

Only advise I can offer is: Take your time, do your best. As Nody said, use macros, anything that can stall for time 'I am looking into this right now and I'll be back with you within a couple of minutes. I’ll be as quick as I can.' that sort of thing.

I'm off it now anyway, it's bizzare that most workplaces are promoting the '3 T'S' mental health campaign while at the same time insisting on these policies that are stressful. So basically go and eat a couple of bananas and walk more but it's okay to talk to two people at the same time for almost an entire workday!. It just seems like platitudes or an obligation they have to fulfill so if somebody gets sick or does something drastic they can turn around and say, 'Well we advised on the 3 T's'.

CruelCoin

Seanachai wrote: »

I have been working on a chat feature in work for a while now and I quit it today, we are expected to speak to two people simultaneously and it just fried my brains esp if both questions were technical. Does anybody here think that it's reasonable to expect somebody to speak to two people simultaneously, possibly continuously on a Monday. Would you like to contact your bank or phone provider and know that the support agent is speaking to somebody else at the same time and probably distracted trying to find an answer?.

I offered to stay on chat but I was told that I must be willing to answer two at a time. I think it's too much to expect of somebody.

If you were only dealing with one client at a time, be honest, how much of your day is actually spent working, as opposed to sitting there and waiting for a response?

Seems perfectly reasonable.

Seanachai

CruelCoin wrote: »

If you were only dealing with one client at a time, be honest, how much of your day is actually spent working, as opposed to sitting there and waiting for a response?

Seems perfectly reasonable.

I disagree completely, it seems the opposite of reasonable to me, I've been through it and my colleagues that are left on the chat agree. What's wrong with relaxing and waiting for a new call or email to come in, are we supposed to work like maniacs for it to seem like work? They're only new to it so they aren't burned out yet, I've experienced stress before but this took it to a new level, plus the chat is very busy lately for some reason. To be honest I don't think the medium is even suited to complex technical queries.

Engaging two demanding customers at the same time is a nightmare and a recipe for burnout. So what if I only have one customer and then have a break period in-between, it seems like an excuse not to hire extra staff.

You've also raised an important point about idleness, it sounds like something a manager might say or somebody involved with productivity/efficiency, we're human beings not robots. I know from previous jobs that some managers/foremen see idleness as a terrible sin, from what I've seen they tend to be burned out workaholics themselves. It's the old 'the boss is coming, look busy' scenario, even if you've just broke your back for the previous hour. We all need time to recharge and breathe, working like a dog continuously is not healthy, I'm sure there are studies that show that a happy, more relaxed workforce are more productive. Some people seem to like having stress and chaos around them in order to feel like they're being productive, I'm not one of them. I can help people a lot better if I'm not still reeling from two separate conversations I've just finished two minutes ago.

CruelCoin

Seanachai wrote: »

I disagree completely, it seems the opposite of reasonable to me, I've been through it and my colleagues that are left on the chat agree. What's wrong with relaxing and waiting for a new call or email to come in, are we supposed to work like maniacs for it to seem like work? They're only new to it so they aren't burned out yet, I've experienced stress before but this took it to a new level, plus the chat is very busy lately for some reason. To be honest I don't think the medium is even suited to complex technical queries.

Engaging two demanding customers at the same time is a nightmare and a recipe for burnout. So what if I only have one customer and then have a break period in-between, it seems like an excuse not to hire extra staff.

You've also raised an important point about idleness, it sounds like something a manager might say or somebody involved with productivity/efficiency, we're human beings not robots. I know from previous jobs that some managers/foremen see idleness as a terrible sin, from what I've seen they tend to be burned out workaholics themselves. It's the old 'the boss is coming, look busy' scenario, even if you've just broke your back for the previous hour. We all need time to recharge and breathe, working like a dog continuously is not healthy, I'm sure there are studies that show that a happy, more relaxed workforce are more productive. Some people seem to like having stress and chaos around them in order to feel like they're being productive, I'm not one of them. I can help people a lot better if I'm not still reeling from two separate conversations I've just finished two minutes ago.

You serious?

You seem to think its a holiday camp.

I'm sure there are studies that show that a happy relaxed workforce is more productive, but this is hardly backed up by your saying you only want to do half the workload....

That all said, its probably best you've left. They can find someone better suited to the role, and you can find work you are better suited to. Everyone wins.

Wesser

I wonder if you were only having one conversation at a time, if you would be able to finish the conversation quicker and therefore deal with more clients in total per day. Would you be more productive overall?

CruelCoin

Wesser wrote: »

I wonder if you were only having one conversation at a time, if you would be able to finish the conversation quicker and therefore deal with more clients in total per day. Would you be more productive overall?

OP said they are a very fast typist.

Such a person should be able to type fast enough for two conversations, especially with the long pauses in between responses as the client performs the tweaks/fixes suggested by the OP.

Seanachai

CruelCoin wrote: »

You serious?

You seem to think its a holiday camp.

I'm sure there are studies that show that a happy relaxed workforce is more productive, but this is hardly backed up by your saying you only want to do half the workload....

That all said, its probably best you've left. They can find someone better suited to the role, and you can find work you are better suited to. Everyone wins.

Missed the alerts for this thread for some reason, you have no idea what you're talking about, try doing it yourself and see if you can handle the stress, it's really not funny mate. I'm talking about serious stress here, not just the type that can be relieved by going for a walk or eating more fruit (thanks 3T's).

I haven't left, 'half the workload?', don't make me laugh, it should never have come into place in the first place, with that perspective workload can just be increased at a whim and then we're just expected to accept it as the new norm?. I was working in a tree nursery when I was twelve and also working in the evenings installing alarms with my father, crawling in dirty attics and running cables. I worked in crews pouring concrete and landscaping in all sorts of weather, I'm not workshy.

Good news today is that live surveillance is being brought in, the American workplace culture has well and truly arrived. If you're not management you're basically a grunt who will be scrutinised from an ideal position. The favourite line of management 'Well you could have done it this way' will be heard a lot more now.

Seanachai

CruelCoin wrote: »

OP said they are a very fast typist.

Such a person should be able to type fast enough for two conversations, especially with the long pauses in between responses as the client performs the tweaks/fixes suggested by the OP.

The typing is not the problem, I would ask you this question, have you ever done anything similar yourself? or are you judging the work from an ideal position?. It's like the house owner standing over the plumber and asking why is he/she taking so long without actually having any understanding of what the job entails. This is serious gripe amongst lots of family and friends when it comes up in conversation.

Seanachai

Wesser wrote: »

I wonder if you were only having one conversation at a time, if you would be able to finish the conversation quicker and therefore deal with more clients in total per day. Would you be more productive overall?

Most definitely, that customer would get better service overall, it's the kind of support where there are so many part names and codes etc that the wrong one can be sent very easily if you are not focused. The customer purchases the product, waits for it to arrive and it turns out it's the wrong one because your brains were fried from talking to some loon on the other chat arguing why his manual wasn't in English because he bought his product in Lahore. But it's the actual expectation in the first place from managers who have never done the work that this should be normal, if they could get away with it, we would be doing three at a time. I was told by a colleague that in another contract that the same company has, they are sometimes expected to do chats while on the phone, it's absurd.

the_syco

Kia_Kaha wrote: »

As Nody said, use macros, anything that can stall for time 'I am looking into this right now and I'll be back with you within a couple of minutes. I’ll be as quick as I can.' that sort of thing.

One macro program is Texter; http://lifehacker.com/238306/lifehacker-code-texter-windows

CruelCoin wrote: »

Such a person should be able to type fast enough for two conversations, especially with the long pauses in between responses as the client performs the tweaks/fixes suggested by the OP.

Typing is easy. Fixing multiple issues simultaneously when you actually have to think, as opposed to copying and pasting in large blocks of pre-written text isn't.