Podcasts & webinars for contact centre planners

The shows worth a commute and the webinar series worth a calendar slot — WFM-specific podcasts first, then broader contact centre and CX listening, then the regular webinar programmes. Editorial. None of these have paid for placement. Last reviewed: June 2026.

Two honest caveats. Podcasts pause and revive without warning — we’ve checked that each show below was publishing in 2025 or 2026, but always glance at the feed date before you judge a show dead (or alive). And vendor webinars are genuinely useful — often the most WFM-literate content available free — but they are marketing: expect a product angle and weigh the advice accordingly. Looking for publications, research and books instead? See our knowledge sources page.

Planning-specific podcasts

Shows made by and for workforce planners. There are only a handful — treasure them.

WFM Unfiltered

Hosted by WFM consultant Irina Mateeva. Blunt, practitioner-level conversations on forecasting, scheduling, real-time, WFM transformation and planning careers — the “unfiltered” is earned. Episodes run around 30–45 minutes; the release schedule has varied, so check the feed. WFM Free ~30–45 min

weWFM Show

Hosted by Doug Casterton, one of the most-followed WFM voices on LinkedIn. Deep interviews with planners, academics and vendors — forecasting masterclasses, the maths behind WFM, AI in planning. Roughly fortnightly, typically 30–45 minutes. The single best back-catalogue for a planner to mine. WFM Free Fortnightly-ish

Broader contact centre & CX podcasts

Not planning-specific, but they keep a planner current on the operation around the plan.

CX Files

Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan interview analysts and practitioners across the global CX and BPO market. The strongest source of outsourcing and offshore-delivery intelligence in podcast form — essential if your capacity plan includes an outsourcer. Weekly, around 30 minutes; passed episode 400 in January 2026. Global Free Weekly

Get Out of Wrap

Martin Teasdale’s long-running UK contact centre show — 250+ episodes and still going in 2026. Strong on the people side: team leaders, advisor experience, vulnerability, culture. Useful for planners who want to understand why the schedule meets resistance. Typically 30–45 minutes. UK Free People-focused

Advice from a Call Center Geek

Tom Laird, CEO of US BPO Expivia, on operations, quality, AI and technology. Short, tactical, opinionated episodes — often 15–25 minutes — from someone running a real floor. US-centric but the operational thinking travels well. US Free ~15–25 min

CCMA podcasts

The UK trade body’s podcast strand — interviews with UK contact centre leaders and award winners, plus the CareerTalk series. Leadership-leaning rather than planning-deep, but a good read on what UK operations directors are thinking. UK Free

Regular webinar series

Programmes that run all year, not one-off events. Most are free; the vendor ones come with the caveat above.

Call Centre Helper webinars

The most consistent free webinar programme in the UK industry — regular one-hour sessions on forecasting, scheduling, AHT, quality and AI, usually a practitioner plus a sponsor speaker. The replay archive runs to 300+ recordings. UK Free ~1 hour

The Forum webinars

From the UK’s planning community (formerly Professional Planning Forum). The most planning-literate webinar content on this page — case studies from member organisations, best-practice sessions, and a free on-demand library. Some content is member-only. UK Free/Member Planning

CCMA online events

A steady calendar of virtual sessions for UK contact centre leaders — the CCMA Circle series regularly covers resource planning topics (a 2026 session: “Forecasting the Future — Building Smarter, Stronger Resource Planning”). Mostly member-oriented; some sessions open. UK Membership

SWPP web seminars

The Society of Workforce Planning Professionals runs 90-minute training-style web seminars on core WFM skills — forecasting basics, scheduling strategies, strategic goal-setting. Free for members. US time zones (1pm Central), so UK planners are watching in the evening or on replay. US/Global Membership 90 min

injixo events & webinars

The WFM vendor (now part of Peopleware) runs a regular events calendar with live webinars and on-demand replays — service level management, skills-based routing, multi-skill forecasting, often featuring respected independent WFM names. Vendor content, but unusually WFM-deep. Vendor Free WFM

Calabrio webinars

A large on-demand library plus periodic live sessions from the WFM/WFO vendor (now part of Verint) — scheduling flexibility, automated WFM, agent wellbeing, AI in the contact centre. Registration-gated and product-adjacent, but the practitioner panels are often worth the email address. Vendor Free

Know a show or series we’ve missed — or one that’s quietly gone dormant? Tell us in the discussion on LinkedIn. We’ll review the page quarterly.