Academy Box Sets

Take the opportunity to gain accreditation in a specific subject. Our Box Sets are groups of related modules that help you focus your learning. The full box set cost includes your accreditation. To complete accreditation, you need to watch all five modules and send an email to accreditation@theforum.social to describe what you have taken from the modules and how you have applied these in your role.
Each Box Set costs £295 +VAT. (Free to anyone on an Assisted Learning Pathway). Click on the descriptions below to book your place now.

Student takeaways

One of our members from Lifeplus completed the Capacity Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting box set these are the headline takeaways:
- A small impact in your field can have a good effect higher up in the ranks at board level i.e. matching up with a higher strategic objective

- Planning teams need to collaborate with other areas/organisations, engage stakeholders

- Increase Operational effectiveness - As a team, we have vastly increased our communication channels

- Improve and manage the flow of your data cycle and version control

- Long Term: Financial and Budget Planning – Operational: Drives capacity, scenario planning, and risk

- In the middle of a transformation/plan, the challenges are still there, and targets not being met --> this must lead to evolving the approach to capacity and demand

- Improve the quality of the data, focussing on what/why/how, determine what happened to the customer base

- Demonstrating Value and ROI – benefits achieved, costs avoided, risks avoided

Published on 21 October 2021

Box Set: Planning & Insight in the Back Office

Watch at your own pace

Modules

1: Introduction to the series (15 mins)
This module introduces the series, by describing the methods we are teaching and the type of work they apply to. We look at what makes these kinds of operations different from a contact centre and at the growing demand for our skills in these areas, with self-service and digital channels as well as more focus on planning in the back office.

2: How to get started (26 mins)
We look at the 5 skills you need and why this is different from what we often experience as back-office planners. We discuss common problems and how to avoid them. Then we share ideas from two best practice frameworks that can help you focus on how to get started.

3: Capacity Planning (18 mins)
In this module we want to look at the fundamentals of capacity planning for back office and digital. What makes it different from contact centres? What are the key inputs you need to be tracking and forecasting? Explore the importance of setting work priorities and allocation rules.

4: Data preparation & analysis (23 mins)
Look at how to prepare your data for resource planning and operational management, with examples from recent students on our Assisted Learning Pathways and insight from the workflow team Legal & General. See what you need to do when you start planning in these areas for the first time.

5: How to create accurate unit times (20 mins)
We will look at the importance of getting the handling time correct, how we get this data and ensure it is accurate. Graham Watson at Capita demonstrates how to calculate these and the team at L&G share experiences on how accurate times have been a game-changer in their operations.

6: Shrinkage planning (12 mins)
In this module we learn about shrinkage in processing and digital operations. What is similar and different from the front office? Why do you need to have sight of 100%? Where do you get the data from and how do you clean it up to ensure its accuracy?

7: Work allocation and priorities
We examine how to manage work in progress, in the context of service expectations for the end-to-end process and the skills available, so as to forecast where queues may get out of control and what work needs prioritising for which people. Explore this both tactically and strategically and learn to build predictive dashboards and performance playbooks.

8: Predictive analysis and modelling(27 mins)
In this module we invite you to open up some spreadsheet planning models and work with them interactively, to explore how you can optimise your resource allocation and skills mix to achieve better service by using resource in different ways. Download the three spreadsheet models here:

Monthly Operating plan
Weekly Operating Plan
Daily Operating Plan
We end by focussing on what is most important

Learning From Best Practice

These final modules show how different members of our Back Office & Processing Operations Network Group have put these principles into practice in their own operations. Many thanks to the members who have shared their learning with us. Before you apply for your accreditation we expect you to have watched at least two of them.