Template · Contact centre operations
Call center coaching form
In short
A call center coaching form is a one-page record of a coaching session between a supervisor or team lead and an agent: what was observed, the one behavior to work on, the agreed actions and when progress will be checked. This template works for side-by-side coaching, recorded call reviews and KPI reviews.
Agent Coaching Form template
Agent Coaching Form
Complete during or right after the session, with the agent. Pick one focus behavior per session. Write observations as what was said or done on the call, with call IDs, not opinions. Both parties sign; the agent keeps a copy.
Session details
- Agent name and employee ID
- Team / queue / line of business
- Coach name and role
- Session date and length (minutes)
- Agent tenure
- Nesting (first 30 days on floor)1 to 6 months6 to 12 monthsOver 12 months
- Session type
- Side-by-side (live calls)Recorded call reviewQA score reviewKPI / scorecard reviewFollow-up on previous coachingRecognition / positive coaching
- Call or interaction IDs reviewed
Current performance snapshot
- QA score (last 30 days) vs target
- Average handle time vs target
- First contact resolution vs target
- Customer satisfaction / NPS vs target
- Schedule adherence vs target
- Other metric relevant to this session
What went well
- Specific behaviors to keep doing (with call ID and timestamp)
Focus behavior for this session
- Focus area
- Call opening and verificationDiscovery / questioningEmpathy and toneHold and transfer handlingProduct or policy knowledgeResolution and ownershipCompliance disclosureCall control and handle timeSales or retention offerAfter-call work and notesOther
- What was observed (exact words or actions, call ID, timestamp)
- Impact on the customer and on the metric
- Agent's view (in their own words)
Agreed actions
- What the agent will do differently (specific and observable)
- Support from the coach or team (practice, job aid, listening to model calls, system access)
- How progress will be measured
- Follow-up date
Follow-up result (complete at next session)
- Outcome
- Improved: behavior consistently observedPartly improved: continue coachingNo change: revise planNo change after repeated coaching: refer to performance process
- Evidence (calls reviewed, metric change)
Acknowledgment
This form records a coaching conversation intended to support the agent's development. It is not a disciplinary document. Agent signature confirms the conversation took place, not agreement with every point; the agent may add comments below.
Signatures
- Agent comments
- Agent signature
- Coach signature
- Date
How to use this template
- Before the session, pull the agent's scorecard and pick two or three calls that show the behavior you want to discuss, plus one that shows something done well.
- Start with what went well, using a specific call and timestamp so the praise is believable.
- Choose one focus behavior. Play or describe the moment, and ask the agent what they heard before you give your view.
- Agree one or two concrete actions the agent will try on their next calls, and the support you will give.
- Set a follow-up date within 1 to 2 weeks and a way to measure progress, such as listening to five calls.
- Have both of you sign, give the agent a copy, and log the session in the team coaching log.
- At the follow-up, record the outcome on the same form before choosing a new focus.
Why one behavior per session
The most common coaching failure in contact centers is the laundry list: the supervisor reads out every miss from the QA scorecard and the agent leaves with eight things to fix and remembers none. Pick the one behavior that would move the customer experience or the metric most, and coach that until it sticks.
A simple order of priority works for most teams: compliance misses first (a skipped recording disclosure or failed verification creates real risk), then resolution and accuracy, then customer experience behaviors, then efficiency. Handle time is usually a symptom. An agent with long calls often has a knowledge gap or a poor discovery habit, and fixing that brings handle time down on its own.
Types of coaching session
- Side-by-side. The coach sits with the agent (or listens in remotely) for 30 to 60 minutes of live calls, giving short feedback between calls. Best for new agents and for behaviors that are hard to see in recordings, like system navigation.
- Recorded call review. Agent and coach listen to calls together. Ask the agent to score the call first; self-assessment is where most of the learning happens.
- Scorecard review. A monthly look at the agent scorecard trends. Use it to pick the focus behavior, not to coach on numbers alone.
- Positive coaching. A short session about a call that went very well. Teams that only coach on misses train agents to dread the coaching room.
A common benchmark is 30 to 60 minutes of coaching per agent per week across these formats, more during the first 90 days.
Worked example
Jasmine Carter, four months on a utility company's billing line, has a first contact resolution rate of 64 percent against a 75 percent target. Her QA scores are fine. Her team lead, Kevin Brooks, listens to five of her repeat-call cases and finds a pattern: when customers dispute a high bill, she explains the rate change correctly but never checks for an estimated meter read, which is the real cause about a third of the time.
The form records one call ID with the timestamp where the customer said "this has never happened before", the impact (customer calls back within 7 days), and Jasmine's own view that she did not know where the read type is shown. The agreed actions: Kevin shows her the read-type field, she adds a meter read check to every high-bill call, and she listens to two model calls from a senior agent. Follow-up in 10 days on 10 high-bill calls. At follow-up she has checked read type on 9 of 10 and her repeat rate on that call type has dropped. Kevin records "Improved" and picks a new focus.
Coaching, documentation and discipline
Keep coaching and discipline separate. A coaching form is a development record, and agents should be able to discuss mistakes honestly in it. If an agent does not improve after repeated, documented coaching on the same behavior, move to your formal performance process with its own documentation.
That said, coaching records matter later. When a performance issue does become formal, a history of specific, dated coaching sessions shows the agent was told what good looked like and given support. Coach consistently: if one supervisor coaches some agents weekly and others rarely, and the difference lines up with a protected characteristic, that pattern is a problem in a discrimination claim. Recording practices and consent requirements for call monitoring also vary by state, so confirm your call recording notices are in place before reviewing recordings.
Running coaching at scale
In a 300-agent operation with a 1:15 team lead ratio, that is 20 team leads each owning about 15 coaching sessions a week. A few practices keep quality up:
- Keep a coaching log per team (agent, date, focus, follow-up date, outcome) so managers can see whether coaching is happening and working.
- Calibrate coaches monthly: two team leads listen to the same call and compare focus behavior and feedback.
- Protect coaching time in the schedule as planned shrinkage; when it is not scheduled, it is the first thing to go on a busy day.
- For general coaching outside the contact center, a broader coaching form fits better than this call-focused version.
Frequently asked questions
What should be on a call center coaching form?
Agent and coach details, the session type and calls reviewed, current performance against target, what went well, one focus behavior with specific observations, the impact, the agent's view, agreed actions, a follow-up date, the follow-up outcome and both signatures.
What is side-by-side coaching in a call center?
A supervisor or coach sits next to the agent, or listens in remotely, while they handle live calls, and gives short, specific feedback between calls. It works best for new agents, system navigation and behaviors that are hard to judge from recordings.
How often should call center agents be coached?
A common target is at least one structured coaching session per agent each week or every two weeks, plus quick feedback in between. New agents in nesting and agents on a development plan usually need more.
What is a call center coaching log?
A running list of coaching sessions for a team: agent, date, coach, focus behavior, follow-up date and outcome. It shows managers whether coaching is happening consistently and whether behaviors are improving after it.
Is an agent coaching template the same as a written warning?
No. Coaching is developmental and should say so on the form. A written warning is a disciplinary step under your progressive discipline policy. Keep them separate so agents can talk openly in coaching.