Building a strong relationship between WFM and Operations

The relationship between WFM and Operations can sometimes be tricky—but it doesn’t have to be. These two functions are like vital cogs in a well-oiled machine. When they work seamlessly together, everything is great. But when they don’t? That machine breaks down fast.

Too often, this relationship is left to chance. When teams naturally have strong leaders and collaborative members, things tend to flow smoothly. But in environments focused heavily on metrics and production, tensions can flare, leading to finger-pointing and conflict. In the high-stress world of contact centers, taking a passive approach to this relationship can easily land teams in a rough spot.

So, how can we build a stronger, more collaborative relationship between WFM and Operations? First, it helps to understand why conflicts arise in the first place.

Operations teams—team leaders and managers overseeing frontline agents—have one of the toughest jobs out there. They’re responsible for meeting a mountain of metrics across different areas of the business, with those targets only getting tougher year after year. On top of that, as companies try to cut costs, these leaders often take on more administrative responsibilities. Yet, despite the countless moving parts they manage, they’re often just seen as "the coaching team."

WFM professionals, on the other hand, face a different kind of challenge. Their role is more data-driven, focused on planning, scheduling, and real-time management. They spend their day immersed in efficiency metrics and service levels, constantly trying to ensure agents are in the right place at the right time. While data-driven work has its advantages, it can also make it difficult to explain complex concepts to people who aren’t living in spreadsheets all day.

At the end of the day, these two teams have different (yet equally critical) focuses. Operations has a broad accountability for the overall customer experience, while WFM zeroes in on scheduling and efficiency. Their paths often cross at the most stressful points—when customers are waiting for agents.

When WFM and Operations collaborate, great things happen. Their skill sets are complementary, and they bring different perspectives to shared challenges. Working together leads to smarter decisions and stronger outcomes.

Most importantly, their success is intertwined. When the relationship is rocky, it’s easy to play the blame game. But ultimately, if customers aren’t getting timely, high-quality support, everyone loses.

Here are a few actionable ways to bring these teams together and foster collaboration:

1. Schedule Regular Strategic Touchpoints

• This allows the teams to engage in a stress-free, peacetime environment
• Create an agenda that both teams can contribute to
• Focus on solving shared strategic or ongoing business challenges. Do not allow the meetings to be leveraged for addressing specific incidents, this will cause it to deteriorate
• Take turns having each team share a success story. For WFM, it’s great to hear about an amazing customer experience, for operations, it’s great to hear how efficiency has been improved through better planning

2. Align Goals to Avoid Conflict

• Often you find that the team leaders are accountable for goals that clash with WFM and vice versa
• It’s OK that each team has different objectives, but where there is overlap, the goals need to be aligned, or it causes unnecessary conflict. An example: A team leader responsible for attrition and WFM responsible for Occupancy. The higher occupancy goes the higher attrition is (as you start to approach 90%+). WFM and team leaders will be in opposition here
• As annual goals are being developed, leaders of WFM and operations should share their goals with the other team and get feedback

3. Build Relationships

• Relationship building is about people. Too often, WFM and operations engage only when there’s work to do. Go to lunch, coffee, or for distributed teams, play games on conference calls
• Encourage your teams to be curious about who their counterparts are and what they do. Encouraging curiosity will help drive positive engagement. If this is absent, often people become suspicious about who their counterparts are and what they do
• Leaders of WFM and operations should spend time getting to know the individuals on the other team. Remember, you are not just a leader of your team, but a leader within the organization

An Operations team is like an orchestra. It’s not enough for each section to play well independently—they need to be in harmony. Achieving that harmony requires effort, focus, and leadership commitment.

Building and nurturing a strong WFM-Operations relationship takes time, but the payoff is worth it. When these teams work together, they spark collaboration, drive innovation, and create a contact center that thrives even in challenging environments.

Start implementing these strategies and watch the positive shift unfold.