Ethiopian TVET System

Guide to Training, Teaching and Learning Materials Development

Ethiopian TVET-System

IT Support Service Level I

Learning Guide
Unit of Competence: Record Client Support
Requirements
Module Title: Recording Client Support
Requirements
LG Code: ICT ITS 1 M03 0710
TTLM Code: ICT ITS1 TTLM3 0511

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Ethiopian TVET System
Guide to Training, Teaching and Learning Materials Development

Introduction LO1- Log requests for support

This learning guide is developed to provide you the necessary information regarding the

following content coverage and topics –

 Client Support Roles

This guide will also assist you to attain the learning outcome stated in the cover page.

Specifically, upon completion of this Learning Guide, you will be able to –

 Recording Client support requests and requirements according to

organizational standards
 Reviewing Client support history and details
Checking and requesting information for accuracy and urgency according to
organizational standards

Learning Activities:

1. Read the specific objectives of this Learning Guide.

2. Read the information written in the “Information Sheet 1”.

3. Accomplish the “Self-check 1” in page 20.

4. Submit your accomplished Self-check 1. This will form part of your training

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*Your teacher will evaluate your output either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. If

unsatisfactory, your teacher shall advice you on additional work. But if satisfactory
you can proceed to the next topic.
Information Sheet – 1 Client Support Roles

Information technology is an integral part of the operation of modern organisations. Users

of information technology need timely, high-quality support. These readings cover some of
the skills and knowledge that you will need in order to provide that support. In addition to
sound technical skills, IT support staff should have a range of skills that improve their
ability to successfully provide IT services to their clients.
The circumstances in which you are required to provide advice on IT problems will depend
on the nature of your organisation. Small organisations often do not have IT technical staff.
They may rely on local IT businesses to provide support, or take out a contract with a
company which provides IT support services. A growing area of IT is businesses specifically
set up to provide IT support to organisations. These companies provide employment
opportunities for individuals with the right skills and knowledge.
Many medium and large organisations provide a centralised help desk support service.
Clients with IT problems report these to the help desk. Support is typically provided for
areas such as hardware and software faults, networking problems (including login
problems), and email and Internet problems. Help desks will often provide additional
services to those listed here, depending on the needs of the organisation. They often
provide training for clients as well. This can be performed in-house, or external training
providers can be called in.

First level support

Clients typically contact the help desk by phone or email. Help desk operators log the calls
and enter them into a centralised database program. There are many commercially
available programs which have been designed specifically for IT help desk operations. In
many organisations, help desk operators attempt to fix straightforward problems. This is
known as first level support. In some organisations, operators simply log calls, which are
then allocated to the appropriate technical staff. In the case of organisations with only a
few employees, IT problems may be handled by an employee who combines support duties
with other functions.
The proportion of problems that can be handled at the first point of contact will depend on
the skill and training of the help desk staff. As a large proportion of calls to any help desk
are trivial problems, first line support can ensure that the time of the specialists in the

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various skill groups is not wasted and is only used when there is a problem that requires
their attention.

Reflection
Can you think of some problems that could be solved directly over the phone without
escalating the call to an IT specialist?

Feedback
You could come up with many answers here. Here are some suggestions:
 deleting a job from a network printer
 saving a file to disk
 locating a file
 changing the screen brightness/contrast/resolution
 changing the name of a file
 resetting user logon (user has forgotten password).

Responding to help desk calls

In organisations which make use of specialised help desk software, technical staff usually
access logged calls through the centralised database. Alternatively call details can be sent to
the email account of the technical staff member who will be responsible for resolving the
call. Timely response to help desk calls is important, given the importance of IT to most
organisations. Calls are often prioritised, according to the severity of the problem, and the
impact on the normal operation of the organisation.
As well as applying a suitable priority level, escalation procedures must also be followed.
It is vital that there are adequate tracking mechanisms to make sure that the client’s
problem has been resolved. Documentation of all stages is therefore very important when
working in this role.
Finally, when it has been determined that the problem has been resolved, the call/request
can be closed off.
Apart from dealing with these day-to-day requests, a client support officer is generally
involved in analysing a range of support issues. For example, this may involve:
1 identifying potential problems that could affect users
2 working on eliminating problems before they affect users
3 identifying the root causes of recurring problems (from logged calls).
It is common for organisations to provide service level agreements to clients, which
guarantee that calls will be dealt with in a specified time frame. Modern help desk software

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can provide managers with the tools to monitor the time taken to answer and resolve help
desk calls.

Recording details of a client’s request

If you are on the help desk and a client rings in with a request, what details do you ask
them to provide? In larger organisations, particularly there is usually specialist software in
which these calls are recorded.
Below is a sample of a typical data entry form for recording details of client requests.
Examine the type of information you need to record.

Sample of a typical data entry form

Data required Entry

Log number:

Help Desk Operator’s

name:

Date and time of client

request:

Client’s name:

Client’s contact details:

Section and location:

Problem:

Date and time problem

occurred:

Computer/peripheral ID:

Impact of the problem on

operations:

First line support

provided (if any):

Escalate to support staff?

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Yes/No

Support staff request

details:
Date and time reported:

Name of support staff:

Practise using the form

You may have logged a call to a help desk yourself in the past. Try to recall your experience
and think about what information you would include in the above form. If you don’t have a
real example, think of a typical problem a client may have. If you wish, print the form and
fill in the details.

Checking the help desk database

When a problem has been reported, it is useful to check help desk logs to see if similar
problems have been reported previously. There are a number of reasons for this:
1 Many organisations have large numbers of identical computer systems. Repeated
instances of hardware failure in these systems can indicate a fault which will
progressively occur in many more systems. The hardware vendor can be contacted to
avoid large-scale disruption to operation.
2 Repeated calls for similar problems that relate to usage, rather than hardware failure,
can indicate the need for specific training. An example of this could be how to change a
client password.
3 Many organisations build up a knowledge base, where solutions to previous problems
are detailed. Help desk staff can check the knowledge base prior to escalating the
problem. This has the potential to greatly improve the time taken to resolve common
problems, and can be particularly useful for new help desk staff. As well, this ensures
that knowledge built up over time is not lost as individual help desk staff move on.
4 Even if you are employed by an organisation which does not have many employees,
you should develop a system for recording calls for support from clients. This will
avoid issues where calls are not followed up, and will also provide an audit trail
showing the nature and complexity of your workload.

Escalating a call
A call remains open until the client is completely satisfied that the problem has been
solved.

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If a help desk operator cannot immediately solve a problem, it will be passed to a member
of the technical support staff. For example, you may receive requests from clients that:
 are too complex or outside your expertise
 require a software upgrade to be done by a support officer
 require a system modification that would need to be done by an analyst/programmer
 require a change to the database requiring the skills of the database administrator.
In such cases, the help desk staff will:
 apply a priority rating to the call
 escalate the call to an appropriate support person
 provide the client with a reference number for the job, and an idea of when the
problem will be solved, based on the initial priority
 record the referral details.
All open calls must be monitored and reviewed until they are closed. Often the initial
priority rating has to be revised.

Call escalation procedures

Call escalation procedures are defined by each company depending on such things as size
and organisational guidelines, but for call escalation to be effective, you will need well-
trained and adequate support staff who:
 respond quickly to calls
 know when to escalate a call to an IT specialist
 know which IT specialist to escalate the call to
 coordinate follow-up with the user.

Client support issues

You need to be aware of important issues that might arise from individual help desk calls.

Priority of calls
Some calls will be allocated a high priority, as they involve critical IT functions which
cannot be carried out until the problem is resolved. Extra resources may have to be
allocated to high priority calls, and the progress of these call needs to be closely monitored.

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Warantees
Hardware equipment will often be covered by warranty. In this case the vendor
responsible for the warranty repairs can be contacted. In the case of failed hardware, it is
important for you to find out the timeframe for repairs. This is particularly important when
hardware needs to be ordered from a vendor and delays may occur. It may be necessary to
consider temporary measures so that clients affected can perform their required tasks. In
the case of software that has to be ordered, the time frame involved also needs to be
ascertained.

Training
If training is needed, you will need to determine when can it be arranged. Some training is
straightforward and can be provided in the short term, if suitable people are available to
deliver the training. If more complex training is needed, delays may occur. Many
organisations now make use of online learning. You will need to familiarise yourself with
any online learning products available in your organisation.

Documentation
It is important to document the issues you have found relating to the support issues raised
by the client. You may be part of a large team, any of who may have to deal with the
problem at some stage. It is unprofessional and a source of embarrassment when team
members cannot easily inform the client of the status of their calls. Even if you are solely
responsible for client support, documentation is superior to relying on your memory for
details of client problems.

Contacting the client

If you are the support person who has been contacted by the help desk, you need to contact
the client soon after receiving their request from the help desk. You’ll also need to
investigate and document the issues raised by the client.
The contact with the client may be just letting the client know that you’re on the way to see
them at their workstation. As mentioned previously, non-complex client problems can be
resolved quickly. The solution may be as simple as providing a short set of instructions,
which the client can follow to fix their problem.
At other times, you may need to contact the client for other reasons, including the following
situations:
 If the problem is more complex, and likely to take time to resolve, the client needs to
be informed of this.
 You want to clarify with the client exactly what their needs are. To do that
effectively, you’ll need good communication skills, including skills in active listening
and reflective questioning.
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 You cannot meet the initial target completion date because of other competing
deadlines and you want to re-negotiate the priority (or the completion date) with
the client. Successful changes to completion dates come about through successful
negotiations. This is the result of building up good client relations.
It is important for you to keep the client informed about the progress of their call.
Frustration over delays in solving IT problems can be a major cause of concern to people.
This frustration can be made worse by poor communication from IT support staff. As a
result of your investigations, you should be able to inform the client about the nature of the
solution. You should also be able to tell the client how long it will take to resolve the
problem.
Clients can often make requests which they perceive as simple, but which are not easily
carried out by IT support staff, as they involve excessive cost, or will result in a breach of
organisational guidelines. In these circumstances, you will need to be able to explain to the
client why it is not possible to carry out their requests. You should be able to suggest
alternative actions, which will allow the client to perform the same tasks.

Obtaining client feedback

There are a number of reasons why it is important for you to obtain client feedback. Is the
solution you are proposing workable? Clients may be aware of issues which you have not
considered, which may mean that your suggested solution will not be practical. These can
be many and varied, but could include budgetary constraints, specific needs of clients such
as clients with a disability, disruption of client access to IT systems, or loss of client data.

What sort of questions will you ask your client?

Reflection
Let’s say you are contacting a client for the first time as a support person. You have
exchanged some initial polite conversation. What are some of the general types of
questions that you would ask the client when trying to work out the source of a problem?

Feedback
There are almost endless possibilities. However, some common questions might be:
 What are the main tasks that you use your computer for?
 What operating system is installed on the computer?
 What main software do you use?
 Do you know how much memory your computer has?
 Is the computer connected to a network?
 What would you like to do on your computer that you cannot do now?

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Listening to the client

When you’re dealing with clients and colleagues, it’s vital that you listen carefully and
respond appropriately. To do this, people often use the active listening technique.
Active listening occurs when you focus on the message you’re receiving from the other
person, without thinking about what you want to say next. Your response to the sender is
one that paraphrases what you’ve heard. That is, you summarise what you’ve heard, and
say it back to the sender in your words. This ensures that you have understood the idea the
sender wants to give you.
You can often tell if someone is really listening to you, if they are:
 smiling
 nodding
 staying silent
 making eye contact
 using a friendly and interested tone of voice
 encouraging you to continue
 asking open questions
 reflecting how you (the speaker) are feeling.
 leaning towards you (the speaker).

Asking reflective questions

As well as using active listening, you should be using reflective questioning. Here is an
example:
Ali: I came back from holidays two days ago and just haven’t been able to send or
receive messages. I know I typed in my correct password.
Amy: So you have not been able to use your email for two days now?
A reflective question allows the other person to correct and clarify any
misunderstandings you may have about what is being said. If you echo back what a client
has told you, the client then has a chance to either agree with you, or point out things you
have missed or misunderstood.

Documenting client feedback

The Help Desk Operator has given you a client’s request to attend to. The Help Desk
Operator had filled in a few general details about the client request. It wasn’t possible to
resolve the problem by telephone, so you need to investigate the problem further and
record more details. You’ll need to contact the client to find out more.

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You’ve seen an example of the initial details recorded at the help desk. The following is a
sample of a form that a support person might use to record further information.

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Client request

Data required: Entry

Name of support person:

Date and time client was contacted:

Alternate arrangements for client

while problem is being solved:

Problem details (incl. nature and

degree):

Date and time investigation of problem

commenced:

Date and time overall system down:

Support required for resolution of

problem:

Research required to solve problem:

(Provide details.)

Can problem be resolved by support

person? (Provide details.)

External service required? (Provide

details if ‘yes’.)

Purchase of parts required? (Provide

details if ‘yes’.)

Date and time parts or service person

arrived:

Date and time problem was solved:

Date and time of commencement of

recovery action/configuring:

Date and time recovery

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action/configuring completed:

Date and time of restoration of normal

service:

Details of staff involved in the

investigation and resolution (include
names, roles, dates of involvement):

Name of staff who closed the incident:

Resolving client’s problems

Where possible, client’s problems should be resolved with minimum disruption to their
work.
The time taken to resolve the problem may mean that IT functions which are important to
the organisation will not be able to be carried out if equipment is not operational. In this
case, some alternatives need to be considered, to allow the affected client to carry out their
tasks.
Many organisations provide support remotely. Software can be installed by support staff
using the organisation’s network. You may need to organise a suitable time for this to
happen, to minimise disruption to the client.
If warranty repairs are to be performed a staff member may have to be present to provide
access to the IT equipment to be repaired. You will have to make sure that someone will be
available at this time. This will avoid delays and extra charges from vendors.
If training is to be provided, you will need to organise a suitable time. This is particularly
important when clients need to attend group training sessions, which involve taking them
away from their normal duties for extended periods of time.

Summary
This reading covered the knowledge and skills you will need in order to provide timely,
high-quality support to IT users. We started with an introduction to the client support roles
in IT, the procedures of handling help desk calls and some client support issues. We also
discussed the approaches to contacting clients and strategies for feedback throughout the
support process. Then we finished with some points to note when resolving client’s
problems.

Confirming client requirements

Confirming the client’s requirements involves developing documentation to ensure you and the
client have the same understanding of requirements. This documentation may be based on pre-

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existing documents that can be used as a template. The example below shows what such a
document would look like.

CLIENT REQUIREMENTS CONFIRMATION

Client name:
Project name:
I understand your requirements as follows:

Requirement Scope (if appropriate)

Good A To be delivered within one week of
contract being signed
Twelve lots of Good A required
Service A To be provided at the time of delivery of
Good A
Good B To be compatible with your existing
network
Good C Must be able to be used in outdoor
locations without risk of damage
Must be cheaper than existing provider
Our signatures on this document confirm our shared understanding of
the above requirements in this project.
Client signature:
Service provider
signature:
Date:

The above form would be completed with very specific information about the current
project. The signature of the client, as well as your signature, indicates a shared
understanding of the project.
Alternatively, a letter (for external clients) or a memo (for internal clients) might be
written to confirm our understanding of the client’s requirements. Example of a letter to an
external client is provided in Figure 1, while Figure 2 is an example of a memo to an
internal client.

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16 April 20__
The Manger
XYZ and ABC Limited
PO Box 6458
SOMEWHERE NSW 2938

Dear Sir/Madam
Thank you for your recent contact asking us to provide you with goods
and services. I would like to confirm the details of your request.
 One (1) broadband modem to support six workstations (five
existing workstations) using commercial broadband access
(access to be organised by you from a commercial provider)
 One (1) new workstation capable of running the current version
of Microsoft Access software
 Three (3) template files for use by your staff to complete
contracts, quotations and expressions of interest.
 All requirements must be met by the end of May this year.
Ongoing support of the templates including initial training and
technical support for a further three months is needed.
Could you please let me know within two weeks of the date of this letter
if there are any amendments needed, or if you have any further
requirements for this project. If I do not hear from you within two
weeks, I will forward by fax a confirmation of order form for your
signature.
Thank for the opportunity to serve your organisation.
Yours sincerely

…………………………
(Your name)
(Your title)

Figure 1: Example of a letter to an external client

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MEMORANDUM
TO: State Sales Manager
FROM: Your Name, IT Support Officer
DATE: Today’s date
SUBJECT: CONFIRMATION OF YOUR REQUIREMENTS
_____________________________________________________________________
This is to confirm your request of 29 March 20 __.
 Updating of three workstations to allow loading and operation of
new version of our client contact software.
 Installation of that software.
 Training for one (1) new staff member on this software.
 Updating, installation and training to be completed within three
weeks of today’s date.
Please let me know immediately if there is to be any amendments to
these requirements.
If no further advice is received by one week from today’s date, I will
begin these activities. Your department will then incur the costs for this
project.

Figure 2: Example of a memo to an internal client

The most important characteristic of any of these documents is to accurately record two
key items:
1 the service which is to be provided to the client
2 the timeframe in which it must be delivered to the client.
Costs may also be included in these documents if appropriate. Time taken getting this stage
of a project correct will save many hours later on.

Documenting any additional requirements

As we explore and understand the client’s needs, we may discover other requirements
which have been overlooked. For example, it might become apparent that additional power
outlets will be needed for the recommended system. Further arrangements have to be
made, such as who is expected to solve the problem or whether the client would prefer to
use power boards or have power outlets installed.
New technologies may also lead to new requirements from the client. There is often a great
temptation to the client to add optional features or new devices to a recommended
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solution. While each addition may only be small, they impact upon the total system’s price,
as well as the installation and support costs.
It is important that any altered or additional requirements that might be discovered are
documented. In some small organisations (eg your own business) such amendments and
additions might be confirmed verbally. However, you should be very cautious of verbal
agreements. Before proceeding with any work, confirm the verbal agreement with a
written agreement. Written documentation leaves much less chance of error as may be the
case with memories recalling facts differently!
It is good practice to amend the original confirmation document to include any additional
requirements.

Obtaining approval
Obtaining approval might occur in a number of ways. It might be a verbal approval to go
ahead with work based on the confirmation document. As mentioned earlier, you should
never rely on a verbal approval. Memories of events can differ very much and lead to
confusion and conflict later.
One way of obtaining approval is to have the client provide a written purchase order for
the work. Alternatively, the client might write a letter outlining their agreement to your
requirements document, asking you to go ahead with the work.
Any approval document that is produced should include agreement on:
1 the standard of the goods or services to be provided
2 the price of the goods or services to be provided
3 the timelines for the project (either broken down into timelines for specific tasks or for
the entire project)
4 any ongoing or follow up services required or foreseen.
Remember, a person’s signature is generally required for an agreement to be legally
binding. You should ensure that all documents are signed by an authorised person from
your client’s organisation before you commence any work.

Recommending appropriate training and support

The technical support identified with the client might include areas such as:
 installation
 troubleshooting
 updating and maintenance of a system
 initial training
 provision of manuals for using and maintaining software, hardware or networks.

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It is vitally important that you recommend appropriate levels of training and support. You
are the expert. You know the systems. You have to make the solution work in the
workplace. You should advise the client about the level of training and support that will be
needed. The client may well choose not to proceed with your recommendations based on
cost or current staff expertise. But if that occurs and problems with the system develop
later, you are then in a strong position to deal with issues as they arise.
The best way to ensure you have a shared understanding of the level of training and
support to be provided is to record it in writing. Ensure that the client’s signature and your
signature are included on the documentation.
The level of training and support might be recorded in the initial documentation of the
client’s requirements, or in the formal document requesting you to carry out work on
behalf of the client.

Negotiating a training and support timetable

Many IT operations need to take place when people don’t need access to the system.
Remember that the prime focus of the client is to keep the business running! That business
will provide the funds to pay you.
This means that you need to be very flexible when arranging times for support with the
client. Think of the types of training and support outlined above and what they involve. For
example, consider what could happen if you have to stop access to a client’s database
system to update the software, or to backup the system. It could create chaos!
If you are to provide training or support you will also need to consider the priorities of the
client. There are two important things to keep in mind when negotiating times to provide
support:
1 the need to avoid any interruption to the client’s ongoing operations
2 the need to have the right people from your organisation free at a time suitable for the
client.
This may not be easy. It can often take considerable negotiation to come up with a suitable
time for technical support to be provided. There can be a lot of people affected by such
support and for maximum benefit you need to make sure they will all be available.

Providing user documentation

What types of user (help) documentation can you think of? Some possibilities include:
 web-based support via files to be viewed or transferred from websites
 hard copy versions of the files on websites
 electronic training programs which many people in an organisation can use
 hard copy training programs to be provided to all users for future reference

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 development documentation recording technical specifications of the system for

others to be able to maintain the system (in either hard copy or electronic form)
 PowerPoint slides which can be viewed at the convenience of the client.
As you gain more practical experience, and as online and multimedia tools evolve, you may
come up with other ways of providing manuals or help documentation.

Summary
When liaising with clients, it is important to make sure that you and your client agree on
what the solution will be. This reading has shown you how to confirm client requirements,
document additional requirements and obtain approval before implementing a solution. As
it is crucial that the staff who will use the solution are trained in its operation and
maintenance, we’ve also considered the importance of recommending appropriate training
and support, negotiating a training and support timetable and providing user
documentation.

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Self Check 1 Written Test

Name:____________________ Date:_________________

Directions: Answer all the questions listed below. Illustrations may be necessary to aid
some explanations/answers.

1 Identify at least 3 possibilities of a user documentation.

2 What is “call escalation procedure”? And for call escalation to be effective, you will need
well-trained and adequate support staff who:

-
-
-
-

3 Discuss what is First Level Support?

Note: Satisfactory rating – 10 points above / Unsatisfactory - below 10 points

You can ask you teacher for the copy of the correct answers

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LO2- Prioritized support request

Introduction
with appropriate personnel

This learning guide is developed to provide you the necessary information regarding the

following content coverage and topics –

 Identifying, Analysing, and Determing Client Requierements

 Importance of Client Feedback

This guide will also assist you to attain the learning outcome stated in the cover page.
Specifically, upon completion of this Learning Guide, you will be able to –

 Identifying relevant guidelines for prioritizing or rating client requests.

 Prioritizing client request based on its criticality or impact on the business.
 Referring the request to an appropriate person or department for assistance.
 Communicating to appropriate persons involved with client support.

Learning Activities
1. Read the specific objectives of this Learning Guide.

2. Read the information written in the “Information Sheet 1”.

3. Read the information written in the “Information Sheet 2”.

4. Read the “Operation Sheet 1” and try to understand the procedures discussed.

5. Accomplish the “Self-check 1” in page 64.

4. Submit your accomplished Self-check 1. This will form part of your training portfolio.

8. If you earned a satisfactory evaluation proceed to LAP Test.

However, if your rating is unsatisfactory, see your teacher for further instructions.

9. Do the “LAP test” in page 65 (if you are ready) and show your output to your teacher.

*Your teacher will evaluate your output either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. If

unsatisfactory, your teacher shall advice you on additional work. But if satisfactory
you can proceed to the next topic.
Information Sheet – 1 Analysing, Determining Client

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Requirments

Organisational guidelines
Organisational guidelines are the policies or procedures that are used to correctly
perform a specific activity or operation within an organisation. Many small organisations
do not have a formal set of guidelines, but larger companies and government organisations
do.
Organisations often have a set of standards which are required to be adhered to when it
comes to purchasing equipment. Standards allow organisations to:
 Ensure that all equipment used within the organisation meets satisfactory levels of
operation.
 Ensure that the equipment used is compatible with other equipment in use.
 Ensure that support staff are trained to service and maintain the equipment in use.
 Budget for and plan the timely upgrade of equipment.

Purchasing items
Organisational guidelines for purchasing will vary from one organisation to another. You
should always check with your immediate supervisor whether such a policy exists within
the organisation. This policy may specify the following:
 verification of funds available for purchasing an item
 verification of the necessity to purchase an item
 upper limit of amount of money permitted to be spent on a single purchase
 inclusion of at least two quotations for a particular item
 list of recommended or approved brands or suppliers of equipment
 contracts — your organisation may have a contract with a supplier and such
contracts often include discounts and service agreements.

Accurately determining client requirements

Some client requests and requirements are quite straightforward. Others, however, can be
quite complicated — and will need a lot of thinking through on your part as well as your
client’s.
You may have heard of technology purchased by an organisation that ends up being hardly
used. Or equipment purchased (eg by isolated communities) that breaks down and then is
left to rust because parts are not easy to get and the experts are all in the city. You may

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have heard of systems that are set up that fail to meet the organisation’s needs or soon get
outdated.
In these cases, the client may not have had a clear idea of exactly what was required — and
may have asked for something they thought they needed. Or the ‘expert’ or supplier may
not have accurately determined or analysed the client’s needs.

What information do you need from your client?

Before meeting with clients to discuss their requirements, you should be prepared.
Thorough preparation should allow you to get all necessary information during a meeting
with your client. You should understand your organisation’s standards and policies, as well
as plan to get the required information from the client in a short time.
It is a good idea to have a standard set of questions to ask your client. Having these
questions printed out and ready to use will further improve the quality of your service. It is
very unlikely you will forget to ask a written question about a particular item, but a
question could be overlooked if you try to commit it to memory. The answers to these
questions will not only provide you with the information you need, but will also allow you
to confirm the answers with the client and your supervisor.
As well, your client will perceive your service as well planned and organised. From this
standard set you can create a subset of questions which will be relevant to your client’s
situation. The standard set of questions should be provided by your supervisor. However, if
you want to create your own set make sure that it is approved by your supervisor.
Remember that all information collected from a client will help you and your supervisor to
make a decision about the service provided to a client. So it is important that you not only
ask the right questions, but you also record the client’s answers accurately. Your questions
should be worded in plain English without any technical jargon (if possible). If jargon is
used it should be explained to the client. Acronyms (when a series of words is shortened by
spelling the first letter of each word, eg GUI) should not be used at all.
You need to specify the areas in which you need information from the client. There’s a
suggested template below for determining these areas. It is a generic template that you
might want to adapt to suit. Note: If the client’s request involves more than one problem,
you may need to fill out one of these templates for each problem.

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Information to obtain from the client

Question Response
Background of the
organisation or business:

Objectives of this exercise:

Problem (and any

underlying issues):

Criteria for successful

achievement of objectives:

Issues, factors and

information that impinge on
the problem:
Resources available to
address the problem:

Possible strategies for

addressing the problem:

Plan of action to be
implemented:

Client feedback process:

Plans for the future:

Budget:

Project scope:

Project specifications:

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Project timelines:

Other comments:

How to analyse client requirements

Suppose you’ve determined your client’s requirements. You’ve collected from the client the
information that’s on the template we’ve just looked at. You’ll now look at that information
and ask yourself questions such as:
 Does the client know exactly what they want?
 Is there anything I need to research to help the client make a more informed
decision?
 Would I be able to meet the client’s requirements?
In other words, you analyse what the client has said their requirements are.
You might then decide to carry out research on the subject. You might find that there are
other ways of solving the problem than what you or the client had decided. Your research
may involve anything from consulting other people in your organisation to reading up on
the subject (eg on the Internet and in journals).
You might find a template such as the one below useful for noting down your analysis.
Again, it’s a generic template that you could adapt or elaborate on.

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Analysis of client requirements

Analysis Details
What the client requires (to
resolve the problem):

Other methods for resolving

the problem:

Advantages and disadvantages

of each method:

Recommendation (if any) and

reasons for recommendation:

Implications for initial budget,

timelines, etc:

Other comments:

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Information you and your client need to agree to

It is important that you gather the correct information from a client so that you can
accurately determine their requirements. It’s just as important that:
 you provide the clients with information that will help them make an informed
decision
 you and your client agree on certain decisions (eg the specifications of the job and the
scope of the job).
You would not want a client to say at a later date that they were not satisfied with the
service you provided. You would also want to pre-empt any later misunderstandings.
Finally, you would want to make sure that your organisation is not taken to court!

Types of information you should obtain from the beginning

Listed below are some of the types of information that will need to be obtained from the
outset of the job or project. You may need to provide some of this information to the client
— eg your organisation may have a policy for charging predetermined extra fees and other
charges for certain services outside of the service requested by the client. Some
information would need to be agreed to and understood by the two of you.

Extra costs
It is important to ensure that the client is fully aware of how much they would need to pay
and for what service. Are there any extra costs that could be incurred by the client? Are
there any extra charges or penalties the client could be asked to pay?

Scope of the job

Both you and the client should agree on exactly what you are supposed to do. They should
know what they have to provide. What are the parameters of the job (or project)? Exactly
what lies outside the brief?

Specifications
It’s important to spell out the details that you will need to attend to in order to do the job.
(For example, if you’ve been contracted to publish a company brochure, spell out the exact
size, colours, paper thickness, fonts, etc.)

Agreement or contract
Is there a document such as a service level agreement?

Changing of the brief

Sometimes halfway through a job, a client may want to change their original brief. Is there a
deadline for changes to the brief? Which specifications can be changed? Is there a penalty?

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Options
Let the client know what their options are. Provide information on the features of each
option.

Possibilities
The client may make a request for a certain service or product. However, they may not be
aware of other options or other possibilities.

Recommendations
Is it your organisation’s policy to give recommendations to the client? Sometimes clients
request that you do. Make sure you carry out research.

Process
The client needs to be aware of the processes you’ll take when carrying out the client’s
request. Is the client part of this process? Will they be consulted? When will they be
consulted?

Roles
It’s important to clarify the roles of everyone on the job. What is your role? What is their
role? What are the roles of each person on the project?

Consultation with the client

Will the client be consulted? At what stages of the job or project will this consultation
occur?

Contact person
Can the client contact you or someone in the organisation if they have queries?

Timelines
What are the dates for the completion of the job (or various parts of the job)? Will there be
penalties if deadlines are not met?

Job guarantee
Is there a job guarantee? If the client is not satisfied with the service, is there recourse
(someone or a regulatory body they could contact perhaps)?
Once you have agreed on this information, it would be a good idea to put it down in writing.
It could simply be in the form of a letter to the client where you say something like:
‘Below are the decisions we made and agreed to at our meeting on …’ Or it may be in the
form of a contract or service level agreement.
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Document the client’s requirements and report them to your supervisor

After analysis of the client’s requirements, you should fully document the client’s
requirements and report them to your supervisor.
This document may take the forms, but would include the following:
 background information such as company details
 problems and issues that may have led to the client’s request
 questions asked during your meeting with the client and their answers to those
questions, as well as a list of any essential criteria
 other options or possibilities of which the client may not have been aware
 any information for the client that will help them understand what they’re getting
into before you go ahead with the job (or project).
A covering memo should be attached, stating the purpose of your report and asking the
supervisor for their acceptance of the report.

Summary
Exactly what does your client want from you? In this reading, you learnt about the skills
that will help you accurately determine and analyse client requirements. You learnt skills
such as how to document, in a systematic manner, information provided by clients. You
learnt to devise, in consultation with clients, specifications for a job. You also learnt to use
active listening skills that would enable your client to speak freely about their
requirements. You also learnt how to ask questions that would help you elicit the
information you need from clients — for example, questions that clarify, probe and help
you to organise, sort and sift information.

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Operation Sheet 1 Identifying Client Requirement

Whether you provide a service to internal or external clients, it is worth remembering and
following the fundamental principle of client service:
If your service responds to clients needs and makes your client feel valued, you and your
organisation will build and maintain a strong reputation.
The process of identifying and documenting client requirements can take many forms. It
can be an informal process where you are asked to provide help for a friend selecting a new
printer. In a business environment it is usually a more formal process, where your
supervisor assigns you the task of working with a client group to select or develop new
computer resources.
The general steps to follow in identifying clients’ needs are summarised below. Note: not all
these steps are performed every time.
1 Preparation
2 Understand the business goals. This would include knowing if any budget is applicable
or if there are there plans for future expansion.
3 Understand the organisational guidelines. Ask questions to determine what
organisational guidelines are to be adhered to.
4 Define the client’s requirements clearly. This will be done in conjunction with the next
two steps and can involve interviewing, preparation of questionnaires or direct
observation. Your questioning skills are very important at this stage and are discussed
in detail in the next section.
5 Identify the roles of stakeholders — those people who have an interest in identifying
the requirements. This can include end-users or customers, managers and other
technical staff.
6 Identify sources of information
7 Investigation
8 Develop an understanding of the existing system
9 Investigate alternatives to the existing system
10 Document the client requirements.
There is also additional information that you’ll need from the outset of the job or project.
You may need to provide some of this information to the client if it is part of your
organisation’s policies. For example, your organisation may have a policy for charging
predetermined extra fees and other charges for certain services outside of the service
requested by the client. This information will be discussed in more detail when we look

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later at ‘information you and your client need to agree to’. For now, it includes information
such as:
 extra costs
 scope of the job
 specifications
 agreement or contract
 changing of the brief
 options
 possibilities
 recommendations
 process
 consultation with the client
 contact person
 timelines
 job guarantee.

Skills required for determining and analysing client requirements

Below are some key skills you need when determining and analysing client requirements.
 active listening strategies
 sort and sift information received from the client
 effective questioning skills
 direct observation
 research a range of possibilities
 communicate regularly with the client.
You should already have had practice at listening and questioning techniques. We’ll quickly
review these techniques here.

Key principles of active listening

In being an active listener, you encourage the speaker to talk freely. However, be aware of
spending too much time discussing what is not relevant to the task at hand. Below are more
principles of active listening that aim to encourage the speaker.

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Principles of active listening

Principle In practice …
Do more listening than Give the other person time to talk. Show
talking. that you are interested in what they have
to say.
Show encouragement. Use non-verbal as well as verbal cues to
show you are listening. For example,
maintain eye contact, nod, sit upright and
say ‘yes’ or ‘I see’ at appropriate places,
and use a positive tone of voice.
Avoid appearing tense. For example, avoid sitting with arms and
legs tightly crossed and speaking in a
hurried and agitated tone of voice.
Try not to agree or If you feel you have to disagree, wait until
disagree right away. the other person has explained and then
disagree, but provide reasons for your
stand.
Show empathy. Imagine yourself in the other person’s
position. Respond to their feelings.
Be ‘other-directed’. Don’t project your feelings or ideas onto
them.
Be accepting of the other This means being non-judgemental and
person. non-discriminatory.
Be non-defensive. Instead, admit any errors or oversights on
the part of yourself or your organisation
and apologise for that.
Paraphrase (summarise) In other words, restate key facts, issues,
what the speaker is perceptions and interpretations. When
saying. you receive a client request, even a simple
one, it’s important to check that you’ve
understood it correctly.
Be aware of the other If you need to ask questions of a sensitive
person’s sensitivities. nature, ask them in a gentle, polite and
supportive manner and tone of voice.
Assure confidentiality. Wait for the right
time to ask as well — that is, when the
other person is relaxed and you have

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gained their confidence.

Reflect every now and For example, you might say: ‘So you were
again on what the other quite upset by that behaviour because you
person is saying. felt that it was quite unfair?’ This shows
the other person that you understand how
they feel and that their concerns and
feelings are valid.
Show warmth and Smile, where appropriate. Look
support. concerned. Avoid being cold or abrupt.
Admit it when you’re lost. Avoid pretending to understand. Simply
say something such as ‘Sorry, could you
just say that again?’ Clarify anything you
don’t understand. This lets the other know
that you have been listening and that you
understand what they’re saying.

Questioning skills
Use different types of questions for different reasons. Below are some questioning
techniques that may throw light on a client’s request.

Open-ended and closed questions

Examples of open-ended questions are:
What kinds of products are you interested in purchasing?
What do you need the equipment for?
Examples of closed questions are:
Are you saying that your email system is not working?
Are you sure that you’re happy for your repayment levels to fluctuate?
Open-ended questions gather more information. Someone answering an open-ended
question cannot answer with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, because it wouldn’t make sense. Closed
questions do require a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, or a similar response. These are used to clarify what
you’ve received or to seek confirmation of the idea that you have.

What-if questions
Sometimes your client may come to you for expert advice because they cannot decide
between options, and they need you to help them make an informed choice. You can help
them decide by asking hypothetical questions. You’ll also be able to explore the possibilities
with the client (or on your own). You’ll also be able to bring out any reservations that you
or the client may have.

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Here are some examples of what-if type questions:

If I choose this option, what would the risks be?
If I choose a second option, would I face the same risks?
Would I be more comfortable with a low risk and low return option?

Sorting and sifting questions

Sometimes a client might give you a lot of information. These are usually clients who do not
really know what they want, inclined to talk a lot, do not get to the point or talk in a stream-
of-consciousness manner. Some of this might not be relevant to their request and you
would need to sift through the information.
Another example of when you’d need to ask yourself sorting and sifting questions is when
you’re faced with lots of information when carrying out research (say, research that will
enable you to inform the client of their options).
Here are some examples of sorting and sifting questions:
Is this bit of information really relevant to solving the client’s problem?
Is this information from a reliable source?

Clarification questions
Sometimes your client may give you a whole lot of facts that do not make sense. You may
think, for instance, that some of the information is relevant. Sometimes opinions may not
seem logical or coherent. Information may seem contradictory. Before you dismiss that
information as useless, ask for clarification. Perhaps the client had not explained in great
detail because they had assumed that you had the prior knowledge to understand what
they were saying.
Here are some examples of clarification questions:
How did you arrive at that conclusion?
How does your conclusion follow from the facts you outlined?
What do you mean by ‘friendly ambience’?
Exactly what will be the main purpose of the computer?

Planning questions
Sometimes your client will need your help to plan ahead. A property loans officer, for
example, might help clients choose a loan type that suits them over the long term. You
would also need to ask yourself planning questions when prioritising requests either from
one client or a number of them.
Here are some examples of planning questions:
Which problem of the clients’ should I attend to first?

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Do you want to pay off your loan sooner?

Can you think of other situations when you’d ask planning questions of yourself or your
client?

Strategic questions
As you go about the process of determining and analysing your client’s requirements, you
need to be constantly asking yourself or your client strategic questions.
Here are some examples of strategic questions:
Have you thought about how we could approach that problem?
Should I research that area further before I make a recommendation to the client?
How best do we proceed from here?

Organising questions
These allow you to structure your information. Without a structure, the information would
just be bits and pieces without any discernable patterns. With a good structure, you’ll be
able to: see trends or themes; see how one bit of information fits in with others; compare
and contrast. For example:
Which three areas are you most interested in the two of us exploring?
What plans do you have for each of these areas?

Probing questions
Probing questions go deep into the issue or problem. They aim to dig out insights and
uncover underlying causes.
Here are some examples of probing questions:
Exactly what accounting tasks do you find difficult to perform manually?
Why do you find these difficult?
What are these tasks (give details of each)?
How long does it take you to perform each task?

Divergent questions
A client may come to you with a problem. Both of you may already know about the
advantages involved in a certain way of doing things. Now you can both explore the risks.
Once you are familiar with a certain area, you can use divergent questions to help you
explore territory that is related to what you already know.

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Here is an example of the divergent technique:

We have now arrived at a list of things that you need to do while in Paris. Now let’s
look at the things that you should not do.

Devil’s advocate questions

A client may decide that they want a certain type of equipment. Everyone is using that type
of equipment. However, you want to make sure that that’s what they really need. What they
want and what they actually need may be different. Provocative questions help you
eliminate myths, fallacious arguments, hype and the like. They help you arrive at facts or
the ‘truth’.
Here are some examples of provocative questions:
I know that this is the latest model on the market and that everyone in your school
says that you need to purchase it. However, do you really think it’s what you need?
Will it be appropriate for the weather conditions in your country?
Has anyone ever researched the problem?
What evidence do they have?

Direct observation
You can sometimes gain a good insight into a client’s need by watching them work. Plan to
spend sufficient time with a client to record the activity being performed in relation to the
project. Take notes on what users do, when they do it, the sequence of tasks, with whom
they interact, etc.

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Information Sheet – 2 Importance of Client Feedback

Creating evaluation or feedback tools

Importance of client feedback

The use of client feedback is very useful to ensure customer satisfaction with current
projects, which is an important business goal. The bigger opportunity to improve what we
do is another valuable spin off in obtaining and reviewing client feedback.
Although some people consider any negative feedback as criticism, there is generally a
positive aspect to it. It is vitally important that we examine the criticism and identify the
areas in which we can improve. If we cannot change and improve, then we will not succeed
in our business no matter which sector or industry we are in. We should approach client
feedback with the attitude that we can do better next time, especially if we consider
feedback as being genuinely valuable.

Types of evaluation tools

There are many ways we could gain feedback from our customers. Some methods are less
formal. These may be more difficult to document and provide less valid results. Other
methods are very formal processes, and we might even employ the services of an
independent consultant to carry out evaluations of our service.
Informal methods include asking verbal open questions of our customers either at the time
we provide goods or services, or later. We might send an email to our customers and ask
them to give us any general feedback about the solution we have provided. Indeed, we
might just be talking with our customers casually and ask them how they are going with the
solution. All of these means of gaining feedback will provide us with some useful
information. However such methods produce results that are very difficult to objectively
evaluate.
Alternatively, a more formal evaluation method may be used. In this case, we would
develop some type of tool to gain structured feedback. Below are some examples of more
formal evaluation tools. Figure 1 is a sample letter asking for client feedback.

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Dear Customer

As the manager of [COMPANY], I want to thank you for giving us the

opportunity to serve you. Please help us serve you better by taking a
couple of minutes to tell us about the service that you have received so
far. We appreciate your business and want to make sure we meet your
expectations. Attached, you will find a coupon to claim ...... from any of
our branches. We hope that you will accept this as a token of our
goodwill.

Sincerely,
[MANAGER_NAME]
Manager
19 August 20 __

Figure 1: Sample letter requesting client feedback

Designing quantitative questions

You've probably filled in questionnaires that asked you to rank certain aspects of a course
or a training session on a scale of 1 to 10. Or you may have been asked to say whether
something was excellent, satisfactory, good or poor. In other words, your answers were
limited to pre-assigned response categories. This is an example of a quantitative
evaluation method.
A quantitative question then, will have a number of predefined answers which should
evenly represent the range of possible responses from the very positive to the very
negative.

Designing qualitative questions

In some other evaluations, your answers may not have been limited to pre-assigned
response categories. You may have been asked a question that did not presuppose an
answer and that allowed you to elaborate on your answer, that is you may have been asked
open-ended questions rather than closed questions. The information obtained from open-
ended questions is said to be qualitative. A qualitative question then, will allow a free form
answer that should provide more detail on why the person is satisfied or dissatisfied.
When you design a questionnaire or interview questions, you would typically use a
combination of open-ended and closed questions. Sometimes a checklist is also used. It is
important to note that the quality of the answer depends mostly on the quality of the
question. Make sure that each question you ask is clearly expressed and has a specific
focus.
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Reflect
Why would you use a variety of questions in any evaluation tool you develop?

Distributing evaluation tools

Most often the type of evaluation tool you use will determine the way it is distributed. For
example, if you use an electronic form which is designed as a voting system for people to
distinguish a simple yes/no response, it would be logical to use email. If you want to use a
written evaluation on a variety of areas of your service, you will probably send your
customer a paper-based document. If you want to conduct interviews with your
customers, you would probably either have a database form on screen (if conducting a
telephone interview) or a paper-based form if you were conducting face-to-face interviews.
The following are some common means of distributing your evaluation or feedback tools:
 Face-to-face – either interview or written responses from customers obtained at the
time the service or goods are provided
 Face-to-face – either interview or written responses from customers obtained some
time after delivery of the service or goods
 Snail mail – hard copy written responses from customers sent by post
 Fax – hard copy written responses from customers
 Email – electronic written forms from customers
 Email – voting responses from customers
 Web-based surveys – forms completed on line, and submitted to your database
 Telephone – using forms to gather information provided.

Reflect
Can you think of any other ways to distribute evaluation tools to customers?

Helping clients complete evaluations

We write evaluation questions that we clearly understand. They make sense to us.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that other people will understand exactly what we mean.
Even the mechanism for gathering client responses may sometimes confuse some people.
For example, you may have completed a magazine quiz which asked you to rate your
reaction to something (like a TV program) on a scale of 1 to 10. The first question we
generally ask ourselves is ‘What’s the highest rating, 1 or 10?’ So, at the very basic level we
need to give instructions to our customers on our intended meaning in any rating scales we
might use.
Another important factor to consider is what instructions should we provide for
completing qualitative type questions. For example, if you are asking a customer to

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comment on their use of a new technology, do you want them to comment on how
frequently they use it, or how easily they can use it, or how helpful it is to their work? Can
you see how giving instructions can be very helpful to structuring the information you
receive? Remember that the quality of the feedback that the evaluation tool should
encourage must be the primary focus of our question design.
It isn’t difficult to write instructions for using our feedback tool because our intention is
usually clear to ourselves. The important thing is to make sure we communicate our
intention to the customers clearly.

Reviewing the feedback received

Getting all this feedback isn’t much use to us if we don’t do something with the information
we’ve got. We need to analyse the data we get back so we can turn it into useful
information that is helpful to us. As we discussed earlier, we should be able to use the
information to inform us on how we went at meeting particular customer’s needs. Good
evaluation tools should also let us identify ways to improve our service in the future.
Analysing the data we receive may mean making a mental note of the feedback we receive
if it is from our casual conversation with a customer. However, even this type of feedback
should be recorded later. This should help us to keep doing what we do well and to change
what we don’t do so well. It may even alert us to a problem that requires a more formal
evaluation tool.
When there is a need for a more formal summary, the information that we gain can be
shared with others in our organisation. We can also do a more thorough analysis of the
information.

Reflect
Study the following completed client satisfaction surveys and think about the information
you may be able to deduce from the clients’ feedback.

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CLIENT SATISFACTION SURVEY – Customer A

Your feedback on our services is very valuable to us. Your efforts in

completing and returning this survey would be very much appreciated.

1. Why did you contact customer service?

I was having a difficulty with a software program I was using
which is supported by the help desk.

2. What method did you use to contact customer service?

 telephone  mail  email  fax  other:

3. How satisfied are you with the time it took us to answer your
question or resolve your issue?
 Exceeded expectations
 Highly satisfied
 Satisfied
 Not very satisfied
 Highly dissatisfied

4. The customer service representative was knowledgeable and

easy to understand.
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

5. The customer service representative was able to handle my

problem quickly and to my satisfaction.
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

6. I was treated with respect by the customer service

representative.
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

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7. The customer service representative was courteous and

professional.
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

8. How satisfied were you with the way your question or problem
was resolved?
 Exceeded expectations
 Highly satisfied
 Satisfied
Not very satisfied
 Highly dissatisfied

9. What changes, if any, can we make to improve our customer

service department?
The customer service I received was exceptional. I could not
recommend any improvements.

CLIENT SATISFACTION SURVEY – Customer B

Your feedback on our services is very valuable to us. Your efforts in

completing and returning this survey would be very much appreciated.

1. Why did you contact customer service?

I require assistance with a recommendation for hardware to solve
a particular information management problem.

2. What method did you use to contact customer service?

 telephone  mail  email  fax  other:

3. How satisfied are you with the time it took us to answer your
question or resolve your issue?
 Exceeded expectations
 Highly satisfied
 Satisfied
 Not very satisfied
 Highly dissatisfied

4. The customer service representative was knowledgeable and

easy to understand.
 Strongly agree
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 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

5. The customer service representative was able to handle my

problem quickly and to my satisfaction.
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

6. I was treated with respect by the customer service

representative.
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

7. The customer service representative was courteous and

professional.
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

8. How satisfied were you with the way your question or problem
was resolved?
 Exceeded expectations
 Highly satisfied
 Satisfied
Not very satisfied
 Highly dissatisfied

9. What changes, if any, can we make to improve our customer

service department?
Whilst I found the customer service officer courteous and
professional, I was disappointed with the technical skill held by that
person. I expected that person to be able to give me an answer to my
question, rather than having to pass it on to their supervisor.

CLIENT SATISFACTION SURVEY – Customer C

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Your feedback on our services is very valuable to us. Your efforts in

completing and returning this survey would be very much appreciated.

1. Why did you contact customer service?

I needed to purchase some hardware and wanted a
recommendation on brand and model.

2. What method did you use to contact customer service?

 telephone  mail  email  fax  other:

3. How satisfied are you with the time it took us to answer your
question or resolve your issue?
 Exceeded expectations
 Highly satisfied
 Satisfied
 Not very satisfied
 Highly dissatisfied

4. The customer service representative was knowledgeable and

easy to understand.
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

5. The customer service representative was able to handle my

problem quickly and to my satisfaction.
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

6. I was treated with respect by the customer service

representative.
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

7. The customer service representative was courteous and

professional.
 Strongly agree
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 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

8. How satisfied were you with the way your question or problem
was resolved?
 Exceeded expectations
 Highly satisfied
 Satisfied
Not very satisfied
 Highly dissatisfied

9. What changes, if any, can we make to improve our customer

service department?
The customer service officer was not willing to make a
recommendation regarding brand or model for the equipment I wanted
to know about. While the person was pleasant enough he did not
seem to have the technical skill required.

Feedback
What information can we deduce from these evaluations?
There is a lot of information to be gained from these surveys. One important point to make
is that you would need to take a considerable sample of evaluations (much more than
three) to draw conclusions about how to change your service. However, from those shown
above we might draw the following conclusions:
 Customer A is satisfied with the solution provided.
 Customers B and C are not satisfied with the solution provided and we may need to
follow up their service to ensure we keep them as customers.
 We need to investigate the differences in knowledge of customer service staff
regarding software and hardware.
 It seems that software issues are better handled that hardware.
 We may need to provide some training on technical knowledge related to hardware.
We may need to review a policy which says that customer service staff should not
make recommendations on hardware purchases.
 It seems the communication skills of the customer service (help desk) staff range
from good to very good.
 1 out of 3 customers (33%) are satisfied with the service they received.

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Summary
We’ve covered four aspects of obtaining and reviewing client feedback. We started with
creating and distributing evaluation or feedback tools where we considered some
examples; the types of questions; how to design them as well as some ways of conducting
evaluations. Then we discussed how to help clients to complete evaluations by providing
clear and easily understood instructions. This is essential because although you might think
feedback forms are self-explanatory, often the clients won’t. Finally we discussed how to
review the feedback we receive. There are a number of reasons for this. From client
feedback, we can identify ways to improve our customer service as well as identify any
training or support needs our customers might require.

Instructor roles
Your role as an instructor may vary from organisation to organisation or within the section
where you are employed. Some general areas you may be involved in are:
 identifying the individual and organisational needs of the client
 providing advice on the instruction (training) available
 planning the instruction
 researching available training materials and accessing these resources
 developing instructional or training resources
 providing appropriate instruction
 modelling appropriate behaviours, attitudes, skills and ethics
 obtaining client feedback
 providing informative feedback to clients, both individuals and the organisation
 reviewing training outcomes.
Sometimes clients request instruction on a technical matter. On other occasions, client
support staff will be able to determine the client’s need for instruction, based on the types
of client requests logged. At least some of the instruction you give is likely to be on a one-
to-one basis.

What makes a good instructor?

A common scenario
Jay, a clerical officer, has this to say about the help desk at his organisation:
Some people at our ‘help’ desk are not at all helpful. They assume they know what
my needs are. They use IT jargon. Or they might just quickly go into a monologue. I

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feel like saying, ‘Can you just come and show me on my computer?’ Worse, there
are some of them who are quite impatient and I feel as if I’m wasting their time. At
the end of a negative experience like that, I just feel like giving up.
I have to say, however, that there are some at the help desk who do help. They take
time to listen carefully as you state your problem. They also take you through the
process step-by-step and they make sure they’ve fully resolved your problem
before they leave you to it.

Reflect
Think of some of your experiences that have involved instruction. You may have received
instructions from a teacher, an instructor, a co-worker or a supervisor. You may have had
to provide instruction to classmates, friends, co-workers and clients. If you are working,
think of some instruction or training situations in your own workplace or any other place
where knowledge transfer has occurred. It could have been a construction site, a
hairdressing salon, a childcare centre or a ferry.
What do you think makes a good instructor?

Feedback
Generally a good instructor is someone who:
 adopts an enthusiastic attitude in every lesson
 has a good grounding of the subject matter
 is able to simplify difficult tasks and concepts for the learners
 is confident in presenting the information
 has a friendly manner that puts the learners at ease.

Types of instruction or training

Instructor or trainer
Sometime during the course of your career, you may be called on to either work with
clients or to provide instruction to clients or co-workers. The terms ‘instructor’ and
‘trainer’ can be interchanged in this topic. Note that in this topic, we interchange terms
such as instructor and trainer; and client, user, trainee and learner.

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Figure 1: The terms ‘instructor’ and ‘trainer’ can be interchanged

Training situations
Your organisation may be large with its own training department and with systems specific
to the organisation, and your role may be that of mentor or trainer. On the other hand, your
organisation may be small with someone, perhaps you, mentoring some staff.
You may be asked by your organisation to prepare formal training sessions either to a
group or to individuals. Sometimes the training you provide will be less formal. For
example, someone may log a call to the help desk and you may go over to their desk to
demonstrate on their computer, or someone next to you may ask you for on-the-spot help.
No doubt you would have the technical skills and knowledge. However, as an instructor,
you need more than just technical expertise. You need to develop strategies that will help
your learners (clients) gain the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary for achieving a
task. You need to be a good teacher.
The instruction you provide will only be meaningful if it relates to the needs of the client.
One of the keys to playing the instructor role is the ability to identify what instruction the
client actually needs. Training needs analysis is an important part of the process. If you
neglect to identify what the client actually needs then the instruction you provide may be
useless.

One-to-one instruction
One-to-one instruction is personalised training. It’s when you instruct or train someone
individually to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be able to competently
undertake a task. You may, as trainer, for example, sit next to the learner (client) at their
workstation and go through the features of an updated version of a software package; or
you may give step-by-step instructions to someone over the phone.
Think of the time when you first learned to drive. You had an instructor sitting right there
beside you. Think of the advantages of having a trainer sitting right next to you. Did you

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grasp the basics right away? Did the trainer demonstrate one skill at a time, supervise your
practice closely and give you immediate feedback? Were your exact needs being met?
You would certainly have had quite a different experience if you had learned to drive in a
group. With theoretical subjects, you may probably gain from the questions and comments
from others in the group, but not with practical skills like driving! It is also quite common
to find yourself sitting through group instruction in areas in which you are already
competent or which may not be relevant to your own needs.

Circumstances requiring one-to-one instruction

One-to-one instruction is generally more costly than group training, but under some
circumstances, such as the following, it is the preferred option:
 The organisation may believe that the training is so important or so urgent that it is
willing to invest in individual training.
 The knowledge and skill levels of individual staff vary. Users often have unique
problems and therefore unique training needs. In such cases, training that is
customised to the individual would be more effective than group training.

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Advantages of one-to-one training

There are advantages to delivering training in a one-to-one situation that the group-
training equivalent just does not share. For example, one-to-one training enables the
training to be tailored to be more suitable for individual learners, thereby accelerating the
learning process as well as enabling the learner to provide immediate feedback about the
training. Here are some more advantages:
 With one-to-one instruction the client will be able to ask more questions and work
at their own pace. As a learner, if you’re working quickly, the trainer will be able to
introduce new material. If you’re learning slowly, the trainer will be able to go over
each step of the process until you’re confident you know it. When you’re with a
group, you may not be able to do that as easily. You also have the exclusive attention
of the trainer.
 One-to-one instruction gives you, the trainer, an opportunity to demonstrate the
steps required in learning a new skill or performing a work task and then to observe
your client repeating the same steps independently. You can immediately correct
any mistakes and explain any misunderstandings you notice.
 One-to-one training is generally, but not always more costly than group training if
you consider the effectiveness of the training. If the quality of the one-to-one
instruction is really good, the learner (client) learns quickly and won’t need any
further training sessions. If the group is too large, then the quality of instruction
may not be as good and the learners (clients) may need more training sessions and
thus the training will end up being more costly.
 In a one-to-one situation, the trainer can pick up any changes in the client’s learning
pace more easily than in a group situation. Subtle shifts in the client’s responses and
motivations are more observable when the trainer focuses on only one person.

Planning the training process

Suppose a group of staff in your workplace need a particular set of skills in order to
perform a task. You’ve been asked draw up a training program for this. Where do you
begin? You’ll need to ask some questions that will help you determine the type of training
needed.

Determining the type of training needed

The following questions can help you to determine a training strategy:
 What will be the overall goal of the training — for the organisation and for the
individual clients?
 What does the client need? What are the learner’s existing knowledge and skills?
 What is the complexity of the skills to be taught?

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 Is there a time frame to teach these skills?

 Are there others in the organisation who need more or less the same type of
training?
 Are there resources (eg manuals and textbooks) that I can draw from?
 When is the client available for training?
 Would one-to-one training be more effective than group instruction?
 Should you provide all the training or would it be more effective to enrol the client
in an external course or engage a training provider?
 Is there a need for a service level agreement?
 What is the organisation’s budget for this training?

Determining client’s training needs

Now you need to work out the specific training needs of individuals, in order for them to
achieve the training goal. This is also known as conducting a needs analysis.
Then you can compare what they already know with what they will be expected to know by
the end of the training. The ‘gaps’ indicate the skills and knowledge your training should
focus on. These will become the learning objectives.
To determine a client’s training needs, you will need to consider the overall gaol of the
training and:
 the specific tasks the client needs to perform
 the skills needed in order to perform those tasks
 the different levels of training needed for different learners — novice, advanced,
power-user or technical training.

Strategies to find out about client needs

Determining the client’s training needs is similar to determining any sort of client need.
You must be careful not to make assumptions!
Focus on what the learner needs to know in order for them to perform the task, and also
find out what they already know. The training needs to be valuable and appropriate to this
particular learner or group.
The following are some strategies to find out about client’s training needs. You may
develop more strategies as you go along.

Ask
Employees need to acquire new skills and competencies to function effectively when there
are changes in their workplace, be it the introduction of new technology or new work
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procedures. A good understanding of the stakeholders and their current competency levels
will give you an idea of their training needs.

Conduct a diagnostic activity

A good solution is to prepare in advance a diagnostic activity. This might be a specific set of
questions for the client, or it might be a sort of test to see whether the client can perform a
series of tasks.

Practise good communication skills

Good communication skills, such as questioning and active listening techniques, will help
you get useful information about client’s training needs.

Observe the client as they attempt to complete the task

This will help you see where the client’s gaps in knowledge and skills are and find out what
they don’t know.

Do some research
You may be able to find out what the client’s recurring problems are. For example, you
might be able to look through the help desk request log. Frequently requested help with a
particular problem may alert you to a particular training need. This strategy is particularly
useful in gauging any problems arising from the introduction of new technologies.

Find out about barriers to the learner (client)

Find out whether the learner (client) has any special needs, negative attitudes or phobias
about any of the tasks they need to learn to perform. Before you offer training, you may
need to help the client think positively about the training. For example, your client may
have a disability or cultural barriers with regard to using certain types of technology.

Meeting client’s training needs

Now you’re able to start planning the detail of your training session/s, in order to meet
your client needs. You’ll need to:
1 Set the training (learning) objectives, identifying the skills and knowledge the client
will gain.
2 Develop an overall presentation approach.
3 Develop a training plan for a training session.
4 Plan the demonstration and information you’ll give for each skill.

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How can I plan effective instruction?

Over time, as you get more experienced as a trainer, you will develop your own effective
strategies for providing instruction. As a start, you can identify:
1 the client’s preferred ways of learning — such as seeing or observing; listening and
note-taking; reading and research; imitating and practising; or a combination of all
these.
2 the client’s existing knowledge and skills level — your client is an adult and may have
had prior training, studies and work experiences. You’ll be able to build on these skills
and knowledge.

Developing an overall presentation approach

Below are a few examples of different presentation approaches. Some of them will be more
appropriate for some situations and others less so. Adapt them as you see fit.
 Demonstrate each skill and get the learner (client) to practise them.
 Present a project or a case study at some stage of the training.
 Teach the skills either one at a time or altogether.
 If appropriate to the situation, show the client the end result and then show the
steps you took to arrive at that final result.
 Introduce a skill, followed by other related skills. Then go back to each skill time and
time again during the session, to build on or elaborate on that skill.
 Cover each skill (or group of skills) and then revise them via a project.
 Give them a task right at the beginning. Throw them in at the deep end, so to speak.
The aim is to allow them to discover for themselves and learn from their errors.
Note: This approach may not be suitable for tasks that have a high risk with regards
to occupational health and safety practices. Some people may also be easily
discouraged if they are thrown in at the deep end.
 Follow a chain of cause and effect, at least in some parts of your session. Show them
a step, for example, and the wanted or unwanted effect of that.
 Always devise questions that you will ask to check the client’s progress or
understanding.

Setting learning objectives

This involves identifying the skills and knowledge the client will gain. Once you’ve got a list
of the tasks that the learner needs to be competent in, break each one down into a list of
skills involved in each task. At this stage you can also think about how you will know that
your client has acquired the new skills. This might involve them producing something for
you, or you may be able to observe their performance to gauge their progress.

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You may wish to draw up a checklist encompassing all the skills for that task. This checklist
can be customised each time you need to instruct a new client.
On the checklist, allow a space next to each skill for you to tick if your client does not need
instruction in that skill, or if/when they are competent.
For example, for the task ‘access the Internet’ you might draw up the following skills
checklist:

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Table 1: Skills a learner needs to perform the task ‘access the Internet’

Skills Complete

a Demonstrate a positive attitude towards the

value and purpose of the Internet by
identifying some reasons why it may be
useful.
Demonstrate basic computer skills by being
able to perform simple computer tasks such
as starting a computer, starting application
programs and work in a windows-based
environment
b Start up Internet software applications.
c Identify rules about acceptable practices
when using Internet technologies.
d Access files and documents using Internet
search engines.
e Browse the Internet to find related sites via
links.
f Send, download and respond to emails.

As you can see, you need to include both the skills and knowledge the learner needs to
perform this task. Depending on the situation, you may also note the type of ongoing
support or mentoring needed.
You can use the checklist to keep track of the learner’s progress with the tasks. If there is a
contract with the learners then that could also be used to monitor the learner’s progress.

Developing a training session plan

This involves developing a meaningful overall structure for a training session.
If the training is formal, it is important to develop a basic structure or program for the
training. This allows both trainer and client to see where the training is up to and where it’s
going. The client can even do some prior reading before each session.
In the lesson plan below, the left-hand column is a basic outline for a session. A lesson plan
may also have time limits associated with each stage.

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Table 2: A sample plan for a formal, group training session

Session activity Description

Introductions Trainees and trainer get to know more about
(personal) each other. This is a good time to set the tone
for the rest of the session. If the trainee has
any doubts about the training, this would be
the best time to discuss them.
Discussion: learning Discuss the skills to be covered. Explain
outcomes of the whether you’re going to teach the skills
session separately or as a group.
You may wish to allow the client to write
down each skill in their own words and as it
relates to their job.
At this stage, you may also wish to go through
the skill and discuss what it means not to be
competent. Sometimes, only by looking at
what you do not want to end up with do you
clarify in your mind exactly what it is that you
do want.
Demonstration: List each skill (or each group of skills) in the
explain and order in which you’ll teach them.
demonstrate skills a, Include how the instruction will take place, ie
b and c what you will be doing and what the trainees
will be doing. For example: demonstration
followed by questions, etc
Morning tea Refreshment break
Practice: learner Learning is an active experience. You must
practise skills a, b allow the learner plenty of time to practise
and c and repeat that practise. Just because they
have seen you do it, doesn’t mean they can do
it themselves.
Lunch
Activities: learners More practice and putting skills together to
practise applying the perform tasks, or to apply them to their own
new skills to the workplace
workplace
Assessment Have the trainees reached the learning

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outcomes? This could be assessed by

questions, making observations or asking for
trainees to hand in practical work.
Feedback and You need feedback from your learners on how
evaluation they felt about the training, the methods you
used and if they are satisfied. This is usually
done with an evaluation sheet given out at the
end of the training.

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Planning the teaching of each skill

It is important to develop a plan for the teaching of each skill, particularly if the skill is a
complex one or if your learner does not have much existing knowledge and skills in the
area. Some skills, of course, can be taught at the same time.
Below is a draft plan for teaching the use of an email system. Remember to always focus on
the learner.

Table 3: A draft plan for teaching the use of an email system

Develop Details
Skill: Learner should be able to send, download and
respond to emails.
Content: Open up email system.
Fill in intended recipient’s address and message title.
Send email message.
Download incoming email message.
Respond to email message.
Teaching Demonstrate first.
strategies: Give learner a number of messages to send.
Provide constant and instant feedback.
Provide learner with a help card.
Assessment: Ask learner to send, download and respond to an
email.

Delivering the training

You have decided on your program and your presentation approach. Now it’s time to
deliver. What strategies will you use?
Here are a few strategies you might find useful:
 Motivate the learner.
 Encourage the learner to participate actively in the training session.
 Monitor a learner’s progress and provide feedback.
 Demonstrate practical skills, where possible.
 Select appropriate instruction activities.
 Identify the learner’s existing skills and knowledge and build on them.

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 Don’t assume the learner knows something. Find out for yourself.
 Use examples or case studies to help explain abstract or theoretical concepts.
 Use memory aids (for you, the trainer) if you can.
 Get the learner to check their own progress. Use checklists.
 Ask questions of the learner to help them learn.
Using these techniques is the key to effective instruction, so let’s look at a few of these in
greater detail.

Motivate the learners

Before anything else, make sure that the learners have a positive attitude towards the
subject matter of the training. Develop rapport and gain their confidence. You can do this,
for example, by introducing yourself and perhaps talking a bit about yourself. Try to get
them to talk about past work experiences and training. That’s one way of developing
mutual trust and respect between you and your clients.
Even if the learners already have a positive attitude, explain the importance of the training
— how the skills learnt will benefit their work practices and allow them to be more multi-
skilled, for example. Ask the learners what they expect to get out of the training. Discuss,
from the outset, what the learning outcomes will be. Accommodate any further learning
outcomes expected by the learners, within the scope of the overall training goal.
During the course of your instruction, you can motivate the learners further, for example,
by setting activities that are not too difficult, providing positive feedback and getting
learners to actively participate.

Encourage your learners

Respect the learners

Treat them as adults. Acknowledge their existing knowledge and skills as valuable. Value
their input and give them time to ask questions. Listen to the learner. Encourage them to
contribute to the discussion.

Build on the learner’s existing skills and knowledge

The learner’s prior knowledge and existing skills, they will be more likely to retain, in their
long-term memory, the knowledge and skills you’re teaching. You might want to conduct a
diagnostic test, or you might see it as appropriate to just ask the learner. Be aware,
however, that sometimes some learners may not like to admit that they do not know.

Reflect
Think of some strategies that might motivate and encourage a learner.
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Feedback
There are many strategies that motivate and encourage a learner. Here are just a few
examples. You may develop more as you become a more experienced trainer.
 Tell the learner a little about yourself.
 Ask the learner to talk about their work and experiences.
 Discuss everyday funny situations with the learner.
 Discuss the positive aspects of the learning for the client.
 Show respect for the learner.
 Provide encouraging feedback ‘That’s right’, ‘You seem to have the hang of it’ and so
on.

Monitor a learner’s progress and provide feedback

To see whether learners are actually making progress, you need to monitor them. Here are
some monitoring strategies:
 Ask a learner questions and provide immediate feedback.
 Get them to perform a task (even if it is very simple) and observe them. Setting a
variety of such activities will help you determine the level of skills and knowledge
achieved.
 Remember to record such observations. There are often organisational guidelines
which should be used for this sort of documentation, and these records are used to
support recommendations on further training needs.

Demonstrate practical skills

This is the most popular method for conducting sessions where a client has to learn new
practical skills.
There are three steps in this method:
1 Talk about the whole skill (or group of skills) in broad terms.
2 Demonstrate the whole skill without instructions and at normal speed.
3 Demonstrate again, slowly, and describe each step.
It works best when the new skill can be broken down into a number of steps.

Evaluation strategies
The final stage of training is evaluation. The major aim of training evaluation is to verify
whether the client’s requirements have been met. Evaluation is usually based on the
feedback obtained from the client.

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If a training session is appropriately documented then the evaluation process requires only
analysis of the training documentation and the implementation of its findings.
What can you do to review instruction to ensure that client’s needs have been met? Here
are some suggestions:
 Ask the client probing questions.
 Conduct group discussions.
 Observe the client and obtain feedback.
 Accept anonymous feedback from the client, eg using a questionnaire.
 Evaluate the client’s feedback.
 Evaluate yourself.
 Set up plan to implement findings.
These are methods used to determine if training went according to plan, whether the tools
and resources used were appropriate and whether training could be improved in the
future.

Follow up
Is further instruction or training needed?
Sometimes the most appropriate way to meet the client’s needs is to refer them on to other
training sessions. For example, they may want or need to attend a course on using their
spreadsheet software rather than just being instructed in a particular feature of a
spreadsheet.
This training may need to be identified when you first determine their training needs, or it
may only be realised after you have conducted one or more instruction sessions.

Self Check 1 Written Test

Name:____________________ Date:_________________
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Directions: Answer all the questions listed below. Illustrations may be necessary to aid
some explanations/answers.

1 Discuss the advantages of one to one training.

2 Planning an effective instruction

3 Types of Evaluation Tools

4 Strategies in Delivering a Training

Note: Satisfactory rating – 10 points above / Unsatisfactory - below 10 points

You can ask you teacher for the copy of the correct answers

LAP Test Practical Demonstration

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Name: _____________________________ Date: ________________

Time started: ________________________ Time finished: ________________

Instructions: You are required to perform the following individually with the precence of
your teacher.

1.

 Select appropriate instruction activities

Activities you run in a training session could include: discussions, demonstrations, practice,
reading, role plays, Internet research, questioning, viewing a video, following a tutorial, and
so on. When deciding on suitable instruction activities ask yourself the question, does the
activity help the client to:
 Achieve the outcomes of the training?
 Understand and remember the information?
 See how they could transfer the new information into their work situation?
 Meet their needs?
 Remember the new information?
 Use equipment, resources and a location that are easily available?

Case study activity

Chris is a part-time teacher at Ethio-China Polytechnic College. A few weeks ago,
Chris was asked to plan some workplace training. A large manufacturing plant in
the area had called for tenders to organise their training for the process workers,
and to organise and deliver various training sessions in the workplace. The
Ethiopian Government unit was successful in winning the contract to provide this
service and called on Chris, who had previously worked in the industry, to deliver
some of the training.
The plant manager had decided that the plant was going to embrace technology and
use the Internet as a research and development tool throughout the organisation.
The employees were to use the Internet to set up international contacts for best
practice examples, source raw materials and parts for equipment, organise to
attend conferences, etc. Chris was given the job of organising training sessions for
the staff on effective use of the Internet. The training was to take place at each
employee’s workstation as this would enable Chris to tailor the training to suit
individual needs and accelerate the training. Chris carried out a needs analysis by

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meeting with the intended trainees. Some people were very appreciative that the
organisation was providing them with training. However, the following questions
were also raised by some employees:
Well, I think what you have told me sounds great. I’d also like you to tell us if
management is going to provide us with access from home.
I am a proficient user of the technologies you’ve mentioned and I have a lot of other
work to do, so can you please leave me alone?
I don’t want to use the technology and anyway, I don’t see how you could help me in
my job. Nobody even asked me my opinion.
(In private:) I’m dyslexic and I don’t think I will be any good at this. I don’t normally
have to read a lot, so I haven’t mentioned it before. I’m a bit worried it might affect my
job.

2.

Reflect
What responses would you make to the above questions and comments? If you can, discuss
this situation with other students and your teacher.

Reviewing a training session

Toby conducts regular one-to-one training on occupational health and safety for
various new staff that join his organisation. Training sessions are conducted every
three months in each department and have been ongoing for about two years.
Toby has been called into the manager’s office to discuss the training he has been
conducting. The manager asks Toby for documentation of the effectiveness of the
training. Toby has been very thorough in preparing and conducting the training and
shows the manager his training plans and methods. He does not have any written
information on the effectiveness of the program but he is confident that it is going
well. Participants appear happy with the training and there have been no major
complaints.
However, as Toby was away the previous week, he is unaware that there was quite
a serious accident and it looks as though the company may be investigated by the
local authorities.

Reflect
1 Why is it important to evaluate instruction?
2 Does Toby have any evidence that his training was effective?

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3 What could Toby have done to regularly review the one-to-one training sessions he has
been conducting?

Feedback
Whether the training is conducted one-to-one or in groups, it is important to review
instruction so that a record of the effect of the training is kept. Unfortunately, Toby has no
evidence that his training has been effective. Some things he could have done are:
 observe and record work practices of learners after the training session
 ask learners to complete a written test on the key content of the training session
 ask learners to complete a written survey on the clarity and effectiveness of the
training.

3.

Create your own list of Client Satisfaction Survey

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