Telemarketing-Training For Multi-tasking (1,018 words)

Need proof? Pat your head. Now rub your tummy in a circle. In general, trying to accomplish two different things in the same period increases stress and reduces accuracy, no matter what your teenagers may tell you about why it's perfectly fine to do homework while watching TV.

In call centers, phone reps have been expected to do this kind of double duty ever since it was first realized that reps could key mail orders at their stations when they weren't taking calls. The premise is valid: increase productivity and, as an added bonus, make the day pass more quickly. On the down side, though, switching back and forth between activities increases errors in both tasks, and can easily lead reps to treat live customers as interruptions.