To Thrive, To Cope, or To Crumble? And Still Be Standing…

Do you thrive under pressure or crumble at the thought of it? Does your best stuff surface as the deadline approaches or do you need to iterate, day after day to achieve something you’re proud of?

How do I work best?

Where I work the pressure is always on and deadlines are constant, day in and day out.

I work at an inbound call center, and for those of you who work in one (although the employers varies), the concept is basically the same. You receive a call and after going through your introductions and verifications you get  down to the heart of the matter: your caller has a concern, need, or request that must be addressed, and based on the information provided, you have to obtain a solution to their need (or needs)…within a certain amount of time.

The pressure comes when you are reminded that there are others who will be calling (or have called and are currently in a holding pattern referred to as being in queue), and you need to be using that time efficiently in knowing where to go for the information, provide the information (or forward their request to a specialist),  and get them off the line as quickly as possible….All while talking and typing at the same time and keeping your ACW(which stands for after call work, which is the time after your call where you finish up you notes that are related to the call within a tight window of 2 minutes or less). 

For me, that is when the pressure really hits.  I wouldn’t  exactly say that I thrive in it (especially when the red shows up on the large monitor…. To remind you that there are calls currently holding).

Then I am crumbling under the pressure….I wouldn’t exactly say that either, except when I don’t know where to find an answer and every one is on a call and there is no “lifeline” to go to, and not feeling confident explaining what I do know…or I am trying to finish my notes on a call, and another call comes in….

What would I say then?
I say this:
I strive to do the best possible job I can day in and day out; and how I handle the pressure(and the stress), is on a day by day, call by call basis.  A lot of times, most of this is out of our control, and the pressure will be there…it is all in how you handle.
If I do those things by the end of the work day, and standing afterwards, then I am meeting those deadlines.

This is from someone who has returned to the battlefield in late December after 5 1/2 years… I won’t say I have it completely mastered, because I don’t (but does anybody at 100% all of the time?)…But I WILL GET THERE

And for those of you who are feeling the pressure…don’t forget to breathe.

I need to do that, too!  🙂