6 Ways to Plan Exercise into Your Agents’ Day

Here are some simple ideas for adding more exercise into your agents’ day and promoting a happier, healthier contact centre.

1. Set up a lunchtime running club to encourage agents to break a sweat

Some offices have lunchtime walking clubs to encourage their employees to get some fresh air during the working day.

Ramp this idea up by getting your agents to break a sweat in a lunchtime running club instead. A rush of endorphins in addition to some fresh air will make for livelier agents on the afternoon shift.

Alternatively, give your agents the opportunity to set up and run a new fitness group that meets the needs of their peers.

2. Sign everyone up for a 5k charity fun run

Give everyone the opportunity to sign up for a 5k charity fun run, then embark on a “couch to 5k” training plan together. These training runs can be planned around existing shift patterns to make it easy for everyone to take part.

For additional motivation, you could also give away prizes such as an extra day’s holiday or guaranteed parking space for a month to the fastest runner and employee who raises the most money for charity.

3. Encourage everyone to take the long route to the kitchen or breakout room

Your kitchen might be just down the hall from the main contact centre floor, but mapping “the long way to the kitchen” can give agents the option to stretch their legs and still (eventually) arrive at the same destination.

You can do this with arrows or posters, or just encourage agents to use their imagination.

If you work in a large contact centre, you could also try swapping around the use of the breakout rooms and kitchens so that everyone has to walk longer distances to these facilities each day.

4. Organise in-house fitness classes around lunchtime schedules

Contact centres attract people from all walks of life. Why not find out if you have a yoga or Zumba teacher on your floor and see if they would be willing to teach a class at lunchtime or after work?

These classes should be planned around current schedules – and made shorter than normal if needs be – so agents can easily fit them into their working day.

You could also look into local fitness classes, preferably ones which don’t require gym membership, and advertise these in communal areas.

5. Start every team huddle with 10 star jumps

A fun way to get everyone moving a bit more in the contact centre is to start every team huddle with 10 star jumps.

You could also look at increasing the number of star jumps over a period of time as your team’s fitness improves.

6. Give agents the option to use an exercise ball in the place of a chair

Occasionally replacing agents’ desk chairs with exercise balls can give them an opportunity to strengthen their core muscles and improve their posture – without having to leave their desk.

You could also invest in standing desks to encourage agents to spend more time on their feet.

Additional Resources

• 8 Steps to Healthier Agents
• 10 Ideas to Keep a Happy and Healthy Workforce
• Contact Centre Exercise Video Launched

What have you tried to encourage agents to do more exercise at work?

Put your thoughts in an email to Call Centre Helper.

Author: Megan Jones