Customer support BPO · Workforce management
Peak season staffing plan
Staff up for a client's sale, launch or holiday peak before the queues overflow. The client shares the forecast and approves the plan and budget through a shared link, and nobody is hired until the operations manager signs off the cost.
- Duration: 8 to 12 weeks
- How often: For every client peak
- Steps: 8 steps
- AI agents: 1 AI agent
- Approvals: 1 approval
Free plan, no credit card needed.
What changes with this template
Without it
The client mentions the sale shortly before it starts.
Overtime and temporary hires are agreed in passing, and the cost surprises everyone.
Temporary agents start on the first peak day without client logins or training.
Nobody writes down what went wrong, so the next peak starts from zero.
With it
The client shares the forecast through a shared link at the start of the plan.
The operations manager approves the plan and the cost before anyone is hired.
Every peak agent is certified and has access before the readiness check.
The peak review records the actual volume and what to change next time.
The template, step by step
Each step says who does it: someone on your team, an AI agent, or the client through a shared link. An approval keeps every later step locked until it is given.
- Done by your team
- Done by an AI agent
- Done by the client, through a shared link
Starts when
A client peak is coming, such as a sale, a launch or the holidays. The account manager starts a run 10 weeks ahead and sends the client's support lead the shared link.
- 1
Share the peak forecast
Week 1Client support lead · Shared link
Through the shared link, the client's support lead shares the peak dates, the expected contact volume, planned promotions and a link to last year's figures.
Checklist
- Channels affected confirmed
- Promotions and launch dates listed
Fields to fill in
- Peak starts (required)
- Peak ends (required)
- Expected contacts per week at peak (required)
- Link to last year's figures
- 2
Build the staffing plan
Hidden from the shared linkWeek 2Workforce planner · Team
Turn the forecast into hours per channel and interval, include shrinkage, and decide how much comes from new hires, cross-trained agents from other accounts and overtime.
Checklist
- Forecast turned into hours per interval
- Shrinkage included
- Cross-trained agents from other accounts listed
- Overtime within working time rules
Fields to fill in
- Extra agents needed (required)
- Overtime hours planned
- Extra cost (required)
- Link to the staffing plan (required)
- 3
Draft the peak plan for the client
Week 2Plan summarizer · AI agent
The plan summarizer writes a short proposal: the extra agents and hours, the cost, the service levels during the peak and what the client must prepare, such as help articles and macros.
Fields to fill in
- Draft peak plan (required)
Checked by: The operations manager corrects the proposal and approves the plan and cost in step 4.
- 4
Approve the plan and the cost
Hidden from the shared linkWeek 3Operations manager · Team
Check that the plan covers the forecast and that the cost is right, correct the draft and approve it. Then email the approved peak plan to the client's support lead.
Checklist
- Plan covers the forecast
- Cost matches the staffing plan
- Draft plan corrected
Approval: Hiring and the client proposal stay locked until the operations manager approves the plan and its cost.
- 5
Client approves the plan and budget
Week 3Client support lead · Shared link
The client's support lead reads the peak plan the operations manager emailed and, through the shared link, approves the plan and budget or records what to change.
Fields to fill in
- Decision (required)
- Approved budget
- Changes requested
- 6
Hire and cross-train the peak team
Weeks 4 to 8Trainer · Team
Train new hires and cross-train agents from other accounts on the client's product and peak policies, and request their client system access.
Checklist
- Temporary agents certified
- Cross-trained agents certified
- Client system access requested
- Peak macros ready
Fields to fill in
- Agents ready for the peak (required)
- Agents still in training
- 7
Run the readiness check
Week 9Workforce planner · Team
Publish the peak schedule, test overflow routing and confirm the client's escalation contacts for the peak days.
Checklist
- Peak schedule published
- Overflow routing tested
- Client escalation contacts for peak days confirmed
Fields to fill in
- Open risks
- 8
Review the peak with the client
After the peakClient account manager · Team
Compare the forecast with the actual volume, record the service levels reached and what to change for the next peak, and agree on it with the client.
Checklist
- Forecast compared with actual volume
- Changes agreed with the client
Fields to fill in
- Actual contacts per week at peak (required)
- Service levels during the peak (required)
- Changes for the next peak (required)
Done when
The peak team was in place on the first peak day, the client approved the plan and budget, and the review records what to change for the next peak.
Make it yours. Rename steps, change owners and add checklist items, fields or approvals. The template is a starting point for the way your team works.
The AI agents in this template
An agent only works on its own steps, and a person on your team checks what it did. Anything an agent writes to a connected app waits for approval unless you allow it.
Plan summarizer
Turns the staffing plan into a short peak proposal the client can approve.
What it does
- Reads the forecast from step 1 and the staffing plan from step 2
- Sets out the extra agents, hours and cost, and what the client must prepare
- Writes the draft proposal into its step
- Completes its step, so the operations manager can review it
Checked by: The operations manager corrects the proposal and approves the plan and cost in step 4.
Questions this template answers
Start from the client's forecast, turn it into a staffing plan, get it approved and train the extra agents before the first peak day. Steps 1 to 7 take you from the forecast to a published peak schedule, with the plan approved in steps 4 and 5.
Plan far enough ahead to hire, train and certify the extra agents before the peak starts. This template starts 10 weeks ahead: the staffing plan is ready in step 2, which leaves steps 6 and 7 the time to train the team and check readiness.
Ask for the forecast and the budget decision in writing, in the same plan your team works from. In step 1 the client shares the forecast and in step 5 approves the plan and budget, both through a shared link.
Convert the expected contacts into hours per channel and interval, add shrinkage, then choose between new hires, cross-trained agents and overtime. Step 2 does this with a checklist and records the extra agents, the overtime and the cost.
Let AI turn the staffing plan into a clear proposal for the client, and keep the numbers and the approval with people. In step 3 the plan summarizer drafts the proposal, and in step 4 the operations manager corrects it and approves the cost.
Compare the forecast with what really happened, and agree with the client on what to change. Step 8 records the actual volume, the service levels reached and the changes for the next peak.
Run this workflow in OKiDO
Set up the steps, owners and approvals once, then start a run for every new case.