communicate in IT workplace

ICAITTW002B

Communicate in the IT workplace

On completion of this unit learners should be competent in promoting professional client support through verbal and non-verbal communication. This Unit incorporates a broad knowledge of OH & S principles, organizational Policy and Procedures and the ability to process information and establish contact with both internal and external clients.

This Unit includes:

1. Establishing contact with clients
2. Processing information

Glossary
Other Resources

Activities

Exercise-1 Communication Model
Exercise 2 - Communication Media
Exercise 3 - Questions
Case Study 1 - Customer Service
Exercise 4 - Memorandum
Exercise 5 - Telephone Technique

Exercise 6 - Facsimile
Sample Project

Glossary

Active Listening

Responding to what you hear, indicating you are listening.

Aggressive

To put others down, only see your point of view, pushy and abusive at times.

Assertive

To be clear and honest when speaking about your feelings and respect the rights and needs of others without making judgments.

Body Language

Movement of the body and facial expressions to communicate.

Communicate

Successfully convey an idea from one person to another using some form of medium – verbal, non verbal.

Communication Breakdown

Failure to communicate or be understood for some reason.

Compose

To produce or put together an idea, usually written.

Empathy

The ability to see things from the other person’s point of view.

Feedback

Any reply to a message.

Internal Client

Other workers within the same organization.

Interpretation

What the receiver understands from the communication and what they get from it.

Medium

The method or channel you choose to send the message by – verbal, written, visual, non-verbal.

Message

What you want to communicate – an idea, instruction, request, statement.

Non Verbal

Without talking (words)

Oral

By way of speaking in words.

Passive

When you do not clearly communicate what you think or feel.

Pessimists

People who always seem to see the negative side of things.

Receiver

The person/s who you want to communicate with.

Screening Calls

Listening to the caller and asking questions to establish the purpose of the call, then make a decision based on this information and the company policy.

Stereotypes

Judging or classifying people into a particular category according to appearance, behavior, clothes or a belief.

Other resources

K Burton & K Le Rossignol, 2000, Communicating in an IT Environment, Eastern House, Victoria

Videos:

The Ten Deadly Sins of Communication, AV302.2242/TEND, by Wilson Main, 1994, Video Communicators, North Adelaide

Communicating with Customers and Clients (Internal and External), AV658.812/WORK, Hughes, Brown & Dickens, 1997, Video Education, Australia

Telephone Techniques, AV651.73/TELE, Videotrain, 1990, Carlton, Vic.

Activities

Exercise 1

In its simplest form communication can be described as a process and demonstrated in the following model:

Simple Model of the Communication Process

Using this model, think about the different types of mediums you can use in your communication to send a message to someone.

Suggested answers

Exercise 2

Consider all the different forms of media used for communication and place a tick in the boxes you think would be the most appropriate for the message being sent. There may be more than one choice.

Message	Phone	Meeting	E-mail	Memo	Letter	Advert	In Person
Job Application
Information for staff
List of Specials
Asking a friend out
Message for work mates
Dinner invitation
Seminar Invitation
Feedback on a work task
Calling a meeting

Exercise 3

Questions

1. For any kind of communication to take place, whether it is verbal, non-verbal, written or via computers, there are two main components – what are they?
2. What kinds of ‘hindrances’ can cause bad or poor communication to occur?
3. How can you tell if someone is listening to you?
4. It is always better to make a __________________ rather than command or order someone to do something.
5. Communication is a ____________ process.
6. Besides passive communicators there are two other main types, what are they?
7. List some of the differences between these main types of communication styles:

Suggested answers

Exercise 3

1. Sender and Receiver.
2. Noise, poor medium, misunderstanding, personal problems, feeling unwell.
3. Body language, head gestures, facial expressions.
4. Suggest or request.
5. Two-way.
6. Aggressive and Assertive
7. Aggressive – hurtful, forceful, self-opinionated, commanding; Assertive – Clear and honest, respects the rights of others, requests rather than commands.

Case study 1

Read the following scenario and list the communication and customer service faults.

Robert Martin needed some information on the latest accounting software available from the local Computer Store.

Robert experienced the following:

E There was no one at the counter when he walked in, so he looked around the store for a while, then went back to the counter and called out for someone.

• A sales person finally appeared complaining about the end of month paper work and how there was not enough time in the day and there were too many interruptions!
• Before Robert had time to finish his enquiry the phone rang and the sales person answered the call, which took several minutes to complete.
• He finally got to finish his enquiry but the sales person felt there was someone else better suited to answer his questions, so called a second person to the counter.
• Robert then had to repeat everything again.
• The sales person did not seem too interested in his needs and talked him into buying a different version of the accounting software, which cost more.
• Robert went away feeling like he had been “fobbed off”, but was pleased to finally have his software.
• When he tried installing it however, he discovered the hardware did not support that version of the accounting software, at which point he became very angry and frustrated.

After identifying the customer service faults, write a letter of complaint to the manager of the computer store and make some suggestions towards improving their communication and service techniques.

Exercise 4

Compose a memorandum to all Helpdesk staff, from you as the IT Services Manager advising them of the list of questions they must ask clients when they log a call for help:

Date, time, name of client, where they are from, what was the user trying to do when the problem occurred? Has this happened before? Write down exact wording of any error messages, which application were they using? Did they try re-booting?

Include all this information on the log sheets provided.

Key in memorandum or use a memo template from Word.

Suggested answers

Sample memorandum

Memorandum
TO CC FROM DATE SUBJECT REF	All Helpdesk Staff IT Management Services Your Name, IT Services Manager Today’s Date Questions for Client’s Your Initials
The following questions must be asked when logging a support call from clients. These will enable us to help solve the problem as quickly as possible: Date Time Name of client What section/department/company are they from? What was the user trying to do when the problem occurred? Have they had this problem before? Write down exact wording of any error messages. Which application were they using? Did they try re-booting? Please include all this information on the log sheets provided.

Exercise 5

Telephone technique

1. What are some of the advantages of using telephones?
2. How would you describe correct courtesy and preferred greeting when using the telephone?
3. Briefly list the main points to consider when answering an incoming call.
4. Briefly list the main points to consider when making an outgoing call.
5. To ensure effective communication, you must speak _________, using a _______tone and speaking at a speed that can be easily ____________.
6. What are two time-wasters that callers are most resentful of?
7. List the main steps you should take when preparing to make a telephone call.
8. When concluding a telephone conversation you may have to ________the key points.

answer

Exercise 5

1. Advantages: Instant response, speak to someone in person over long distance, they can save time, issues can be clarified over the phone – reducing travel time and unnecessary delays.
2. Courtesy: Respect what the other person has to say, don’t interrupt or cut them off before they are finished. Be polite at all times, even if they are abusive or upset. The success of the conversation relies on this kind of courtesy. Greeting: A pleasant greeting, which will be different depending on whether you are making or receiving the call. It is the first impression and can decide how the remainder of the conversation will go.
3. Answer with a greeting such as “Good morning/afternoon”, then identify the name of your company/organisation/department followed by your name and ask, “How may I help you”. If you can not assist then you should be able to direct them to someone who can.
4. Outgoing call: You may need to organise some information or questions before making the call – be organised. Identify yourself, ask for the person you wish to speak to or state what you need so you can be directed to the right person, then outline the purpose of the call or ask questions.
5. You must speak clearly, using a pleasant tone... that can be easily understood.
6. Time-wasters: Waiting for the phone to be answered or being put on hold for a long period especially without someone keeping them informed as to how much longer it might be.
7. Preparing: In the workplace in particular, a lot of time can be wasted if you have not prepared what you need before making a call – having all the required information at hand and knowing exactly what you need to say or ask is very important. Write down a series of questions or have a list of specific points in front of you so nothing is overlooked. Taking notes during the conversation so nothing is forgotten – Do not rely on your memory.
8. You may have to repeat the key points.

Exercise 6

You are working for the Bits & PCs Computer Company and your supervisor has asked you to fax a client regarding some delayed stock, which they were expecting from your company.

Compose a fax using a Fax Template from Word. Briefly apologise for the delay in delivering the printer cartridges and copy toners they ordered on 25 September and that since these items are now in stock they will be delivered to their office on Friday 5 October.

The information for Fax details is:
Bits & PCs Computer Company	TO: W & W Printing Services
405 Claxton Road	FAX: (02) 942952125
Wentworthville	FROM: Your Name
FAX: (02) 952216398	DATE: Today’s Date
Pages including this one:
Subject: Delayed Stock
Message:

Suggested answers

Sample project

Communicate in the IT Workplace

You are to use the following case study to answer all the questions.

Read through it carefully and then refer to this situation as you answer each question.

Imagine that you work in a computer sales and repair shop. Mrs Penn comes in on Tuesday morning. The digital video camera she bought from you a month ago has been damaged in an accident. She put it in for repairs at your shop two weeks ago last Friday. She has not heard from anyone and she needs the camera for a special videoconference she has arranged with her family overseas, next Saturday.

Promoting client satisfaction

1. How would you and an observer know if Mrs Penn went away feeling satisfied?

Acting consistently with employer’s needs

2. What would you say to actively promote the image of Bits & PCs? What would you say to reassure Mrs Penn that her decision to buy the Camera was a wise one?
3. How would you check with Mrs Penn that you had understood her main need in this situation?
4. What reasonable solution could you find to the problem of the slowness of the repairs?
5. In the event that it cannot be fixed in time for the videoconference, what will you suggest for her?

Interpersonal Skills

6. Write down four interpersonal skills your employer would like to see you use in a situation like this.
7. What interpersonal skills would you as a client like to find in someone helping you?

Telephone Technique

8. How would you answer the telephone?
9. How would you greet Mrs Penn once she had identified herself?

Questioning Techniques

10. Give two examples of open-ended questions you might ask Mrs Penn.
11. Give one example of a closed question you would ask Mrs Penn.

Active Listening

12. Write one response that shows that you really heard what she said?
13. Write one response that shows that you understood and empathised with her.
14. Write down four ‘listening responses’ you would use in your exchange.

Service follow-up

15. List three things that you and Mrs Penn could agree on jointly as a course of action. These would be things that either you or your boss or she would do.
16. How would you check that she was happy with this proposed course of action?
17. How would you re-check important details like phone numbers and times?