Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Session aims:
Look through the following list of behaviour indicators for the British Council competency of
Customer Service Orientation. Mark with (P) those that you think are positive and (N) those that are
negative.
Requests feedback from customers to ensure satisfaction, and shares the results.
Does not make assumptions about customer needs, but asks lots of questions to clarify
them.
Keeps customer feedback to him- or herself and does not share learning.
Tries to see things from customers points of view - finds out about the pressures of their
world so as to relate to their concerns.
Fails to recognise or establish different customers needs and delivers what he or she
(rather than the customer) thinks appropriate.
Warning Signs
Fails to recognise or establish different customers needs and delivers what he or she
(rather than the customer) thinks appropriate.
Keeps customer feedback to him- or herself and does not share learning.
Positive indicators
Does not make assumptions about customer needs, but asks lots of questions to clarify
them
Tries to see things from customers points of view - finds out about the pressures of their
world so as to relate to their concerns.
Requests feedback from customers, to ensure satisfaction, and shares the results.
Your customers
customers
Peak Preparation
Divide into 4 groups, each group should take 10 minutes to discuss and make notes about ONE of
the headings listed below. List what needs to be prepared in each case. Then regroup and present
your notes to the whole group, who then discuss whether they agree or would like to add to the
notes.
P ersonal appearance
E nvironment
A ttitude
K nowledge
Parents
Meetings:
role-play
1. For the role-play decide which of the following roles you wish to play:
A British Council teacher you will play a teacher in a typical mid-course meeting with a
parent
A parent you will play the role of a parent who has met with the British Council teacher mid-
course.
Observer(s) you will watch the role-play and give feedback on the teacher only. Take notes if
necessary and focus on the customer service orientation, what went well as well as any areas
that caused difficulty. On the whole your feedback should be supportive and constructive.
2. Read the card with the details of the role that you are going to adopt.
3. Set the room up for the role-play to make it as realistic as possible re-arrange tables and chairs
as if it was an actual parent/teacher meeting
5. The observers should take notes during the role-play, concentrating on positive indicators or
warning signs relating to customer service.
Role A
You are the parent of a student aged 13 years old. It is his/her first year
studying at the British Council teaching centre. You want to find out
about:
Role B
You are the teacher of a student aged 13 years old. It is his/her first
year studying at the Centre. You want to tell his parent about:
S/hes finding the level a bit difficult, has problems with the grammar
S/he needs to study more at home and should use the library more
often
WHAT?
Reasons
for
communicating
with
WHERE?
Places
to
communicate
with
parents
parents
To discuss the students progress In the British Council teaching centre or off-
To talk about student behaviour site at schools
To give information about exams, At arranged meetings before or after class
homework, dates/times etc. During impromptu meetings
At parents meetings In written reports
To communicate changes in the students In school diaries
family situation In note-form
To answer parent queries or address their By phone
concerns On social media pages
By e-mail
In the workshop we practised a role-play in groups of three, taking the parts of a teacher; a parent;
an observer. Teachers were asked to respond to some key questions:
How much homework should my child do? All students have homework. For little ones
this starts to develop good study habits. For
older students its an important part of the
course.
If students are unable to complete their
homework activities parents should write a
note explaining this.
Why isnt my child getting high marks in his At the British Council we concentrate on a
school English? communicative approach and aim to build
up an atmosphere of English in the class.
This is not always measured at school.
We use different course books so the same
work wont be covered.
If students would like our teachers to review
work for a school test they should mention it
to their teacher at the start of class. The
teacher can take 5 minutes to go over
school work.
Notes