This half-day training course is intended to be used as an introduction to the skills and knowledge required for reception work. It is suitable for both new and more experienced reception staff, as it makes extensive use of role play and encourages participants to acknowledge the skills which they have gained through common life situations and to understand how these skills may be utilised to meet the demands of reception work.
The course could be offered either as a “stand alone” training event for new receptionists or as a refresher course for receptionists who have already attended a training course. It includes the main skills and learning points which are developed at greater length in a more substantial course. However, our experience in the “Working Together for Advice” programme suggests that a longer course is likely to be more appropriate for participants who have little previous experience relevant to the reception role and for anyone who would benefit from the opportunity to explore the role in greater depth.
Material from the bite-size training may be used both as an additional training resource within the half-day course, and as a continuing source of guidance for receptionists who have completed the initial training.
Adviceuk offer a one day Key Skills for Reception Workers in Advice training course.
| TIME/ AIM | TUTOR’S NOTES | RESOURCES |
|---|---|---|
| 15-20 mins/ Welcome & introductions/ Establish aims for the session/ Housekeeping information/ Ground rules | Ask participants to sign in & write a name label/ Draw a seating plan if a large group/ Agree ground rules: eg not interupting/ Remind participants to turn off mobile phones | Flip chart-record ground rules/ write up to 4 aims for the session (keep both visible during the session) |
| 20 mins/ Ice breaker: what is good customer service? | Work in pairs – one person to describe a good experience of customer service, the other a bad one (5 mins) | |
| Plenary session: each person describes to the group his/her partner’s experience of customer care | Flip chart-to record principles of good and bad customer service | |
| Use flip chart to record features of good and bad customer care. Good will include listening; meeting customer’s needs; pleasant manner, courtesy etc. | Keep the notes visible or where you can easily retrieve them as you may wish to refer back to them later in the course | |
| 20 mins/ Develop listening skills | Talking and Listening game (pairs) Plenary – what makes a good listener?/ why does a receptionist need to be a good listener? | |
| Ask participants to work in pairs: one person to present the query, the other to be the listener. Give out the instructions to the speakers. Half the listeners should have the “active listening” directions; the other half, the “uninterested listener” directions. Allow approx 5 mins for the exercise. | Scenarios scripts for the exercise/ Flip chart-note main features and techniques of listening | |
| Then, in a plenary session, ask for feedback from the speakers about their experiences of speaking to someone who is listening and to someone who appears uninterested. Ask the listeners to comment on how they acted out their roles. | ||
| Draw out the following main points: types of body language which show whether we are listening or interested in the speaker or not/ verbal cues to indicate interest: eg asking questions/ impact on the speaker of not being listened to/ how a person’s first contact with a service may affect their perception of the service. Refer to the principles of good customer service from previous exercise to explain why listening skills are essential to the receptionist’s role. | ||
| Hand out the listening questionnaies. If time, participant could complete them and this session extended to include further discussion about listening and how to improve listening skills. If not time in session, invite participants to complete the questionnaire at home | Questionnaire: “How do you rate as a listener?” (if time or homework of not) | |
| 20 mins/ Develop skills of active listening: probing for information | “Probing the problem” exercise (pairs). Split the group into pairs, aiming to pair up people who have not yet worked together. Explain the exercise. One person (the client) will present a query; the other (the receptionist) will aim to find out more about what help the enquirer needs. Hand out the prompts for the “clients” and “receptionists”. Use the queries given in the training materials or others, as relevant to the group. Allow approx. 10 mins for the exercise. | Scripts for “probing the problem” |
| Plenary session: ask for feedback. Draw out the following points about active listening: we often need to ask questions to find out more about what the client wants/ a receptionist may have to decide whether the advice service can help with the query or whether to suggest other sources of help/ we may need to establish what level of help someone needs: eg information so that they can help themselves or an appointment for professional advice/ probing the problem can help a receptionist identify what action a client may be able to take and whether there are access needs such as language or learning difficulties | ||
| 15 mins | Refreshment break | |
| 15 mins/ Relate principles of customer care to human needs | Plenary session – Hand out the summary of human needs and the diagram of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. General discussion: how do these principles apply to customer care and the role of the receptionist? | Human needs handout/ Maslow’s hierarchy handout and prepared flip chart |
| Draw out the following points: some advice clients may be homeless; have no money; be in danger of deportation etc – so have unmet needs at the basic levels/ advice services help address some of these basic needs/ good customer care can help meet the need for esteem and put anxious people at ease/ the reception and waiting area should be welcoming – seating, access to toilets etc. This session could be extended to include reflections and anecdotes to develop understanding of how good customer care can contribute to a client’s well-being | ||
| 30 mins/ Manage difficult client situations | Role play using case studies: the angry client and the anxious client. Introduce the session by commenting that advice service clients may sometimes appear angry or demanding and this can be difficult to deal with. If appropriate, ask the group to provide one or two examples from experience. | Case studies: the anxious client/ the angry client. Scripts and guidance for receptionists |
| Explain that dealing with clients who appear angry, frustrated or anxious is one of the main challenges of reception work and that the aim of this session is to look at common situations of this sort and to identify ways of managing these situations | Flip chart – to record findings and action points for improving acces to the advice service as appropriate | |
| Work in pairs or threes if the group is large. One person from each pair or group takes the role of the client. Then the other person(s) is the receptionist. Issue scripts for clients – at least one person to be the angry client and at least one to be the anxious client. Clients go to a breakout space to read their scripts; receptionists stay in the training room. Hand out guidance and brief the receptionists on their task. Set up an interview space with the client’s chair facing the receptionist. Ask the clients to come back into the room as if they were clients being admitted to a “drop in” advice session. Each client will sit in front of the receptionist and play the role allocated. Allow up to 10 mins for the clients interaction with the receptionist. | ||
| Plenary session: re-arrange the room as for the training session. Draw out the following points: value of active listening and showing understanding of the client’s anger/anxiety – link to human needs session/ need to establish what the problem is and if there are any urgent issues/ techniques for diffusing anger and alleviating anxiety: reassurance that the client will receive advice or help; acknowledging the importance of the problem; explaining how the advice service works and what will happen next. | ||
| If there is time, the discussion could also explore issues such as: how access to the advice service is managed and whether this should be reviewed to reduce waiting times, prevent queues etc/ what support is or should be available for reception staff when faced with difficult situations – including procedures to ensure personal safety eg a panic button/ how reception staff contribute to the planning of the advice service and the ways in which client’s enquiries are assessed and appointments allocated | ||
| 20 mins/ Understand the key principles of advice services and how they apply to the reception service | Plenary session – ask participants for their views of what makes an advice service accessible and easy to use from a client’s point of view. Highlight the replies which relate cloely to the 5 principles and explain that these are guiding principles to ensure that clients needing advice are able to uses and have confidence in an advice service. | |
| Give out the handout on the 5 principles. Option for this exercise – Option 1:display the 5 client scenarios-eg write them on flip charts and stick to the walls. Give each participant a set of 5 cards listing the 5 principles and ask them to stick each card to the appropriate scenario. | Scenarios for illustrating each of the 5 principles: for display or; as handouts for group exercise or; as script for role play. Sets of cards to identify the principle concerned (1 set per person or group depending which exercise is used | |
| Option 2: if the space is not big enough for this, split participants into groups of 3 – 4, give the scenarios as handouts and ask them to agree which principle applies to each scenario. | ||
| Option 3: ask for volunteers to act as potential clients and use role play to present the scenarios and link them to the principles. | ||
| Plenary discussion to cover points such as: body language may convey unconscious disapproval or impatience with a client/ the recptionist is often the public face of an advice service – so his or her attitude to clients can communicate the ethos and values of the service/ is any further training needed on these issues | ||
| 15-20 mins/ Understand the difference between information and advice | Plenary or group session – Envelope exercise: “Who should ask ?” | Information, Triage and the Receptionist’s role Guidance document (handout) |
| Option 1 Group exercise; each group of 3 – 4 participants has a set of questions and decides who should ask these within the advice service. Option 2Plenary session: each participant has a set of questions and some blutac. three flip charts headed “advicer”, “receptionist”, “both” are displayed and p[artici[ants choose on which flip chart to stick each question. | Flip chart “advice and information” | |
| Plenary discussion – Draw out and record on a flip chart key features of information and advice respectively. Discuss reasons why reception staff should not give advice. Hand out the guidance document. If more time is allocated to this session, scenarios and role play could be used to illustrate the difference between information and advice | ||
| 10 mins/ Summary | Brainstorm main learning points – ask each participant to name one thing they have learned from the training and how they will implement this within their work as a receptionist. Mention any further training colurses on reception skills which may be of interest. Thank participants for attending. Ensure everyone has a copy of all the handouts | Flip chart – learning points |
