Planning for COVID-19

Webinar Series

Planning for COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of us, the changes and impacts will continue for some time. It’s during times like this when you need you remember that you are part of a community of best practice, so don’t be alone. The Forum is your friendly, safe environment for sharing ideas, top tips and pitfalls to avoid. In this time of uncertainty its important that we collaborate and work together, bringing together ideas and use this time as an opportunity to learn and continue to raise standards. 

 We have designed three short series of learning academy modules, along with a top-tips & pitfalls to avoid for homeworking webinar and then a virtual networking group to help you. Phil Anderson has written an article about some of the considerations you might need to make. 

To view series 1 and 2 you need to log in to the website. Click on My Account at the top right to register or log in. 

Understanding your Volatility & Flexibility

Hosted on 11th June 2020 by Phil Anderson

The basis of a best practice scheduling strategy is a clear understanding of the volatility of workload and the amount of flexibility to need and can afford.  This module introduces you to theoretical models and calculations to understand your flexibility need.  Learning outcomes include:
 - What does volatility & flexibility mean and the importance of defining these for your business.
 - How to calculate the volatility of demand and amount of flexibility available
 - Understanding different flexibility needs based on different starting positions, e.g. annually and daily, compared to average, compared to budget

Predictability of Events

Hosted on 9th June 2020 by Alison Conaghan

A chance to practice assessing the predictability of events through a classic exercise from The Forum to help you hone your skills in forecasting ad hoc events.

Intro to The Planning Cycle

Hosted on 8th June 2020 by David Preece

Learn the role planning plays in implementing your strategic objectives.  Understand the importance of your role and how you can help others.
 - Understand how the strategic objective is implemented into a forecasting, scheduling and real-time plan.
 - Learn about the importance of effective data checkpoints, change governance and hand-overs
 - Play a part in driving continuous improvement and become the nerve-centre of the business

Introduction to the Insight Cycle

Hosted on 8th June 2020 by Ian Robertson

Our best practice framework for data, analytics & insight, has the Scientific method at its heart and draws inspiration from methods that drove success with the planning framework last year. In this module we;   
 - Explore the scientific method
 - Introduce our new insight cycle
 - Share an exercise to identify the gaps and opportunity in your data, analytics and insight processes.

Forecasting & Predictability

Hosted on 2nd June 2020 by David Preece

A chance to practice assessing the predictability of events through a classic exercise from The Forum to help you hone your skills in forecasting ad hoc events.

Free webinar: Trade secrets every planner should know about WFM reporting & analysis sponsored by injixo

27th May 2021, 17:00

Each time round the WFM cycle, high-performing planners analyse and report on what went right and what went wrong. The goal is that with each iteration, the forecast becomes more accurate, the staffing requirement includes the right shrinkage, the schedule efficiency is higher, the agent adherence is better, and so on. Continuous improvement is the name of the game.

Just as with every other part of the WFM cycle, there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about reporting & analysis. What’s more, since late 2019 we’ve all been bombarded with numbers and charts in the daily news. Now everybody thinks they are statisticians. Join Ian Robertson of The Forum and Simon Waldron of InVision as they reveal some hot tips that work in 2021 and beyond. If you want to take your reporting & analysis to the next level, this webinar is a must-attend.

In this webinar, you will learn:
 - The most important KPIs
 - How to choose the right level of detail
 - The dos and don’ts of data visualization
 - About telling a story with your data
 - How to use your data to drive change
 

Shrinkage Calculations

Hosted on 21st May 2020 by David Preece

Introduction into shrinkage calculations, tiered shrinkage, historical tracking.  Understand the importance of calculating shrinkages so they are optimised for your operation the key differences and impact on your resource requirements
 - What is included in shrinkage?
 - The importance of calculating shrinkage correctly.
 - Which method should you use for planning, budgeting.

The Strategy Pyramid

Hosted on 28th April 2020 by Ian Robertson

Before setting targets and goals it is important that these are aligned to strategies that support your organisational goals. In this module;
 - Understand your organisational goals
 - See how to balance your strategies
 - Learn how to align the right metrics and targets to your strategies

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