Human Resource Management: Chapter 2 True/False Questions

Chapter 2 Study Guide True/False Indicate whether the statement is true or false. __T__ 1. Communication skills are more often difficult for a new help desk agent to learn than technical skills or business skills. __T__ 2. Customer satisfaction with a support incident is more directly related to the solution to a problem than to the communication skills a support agent uses. __F__ 3. Effective communication skills are more important in telephone conversations than in face-to-face, email, or other forms of communication with users. ___T_ 4. Communication is a two-way process that involves both listening and responding. __F__ 5. Communication is a one-way process that involves an effective transmission from sender to receiver. _F___ 6. A customer service ethic is an organization-wide philosophy that the customer is always right. __T__ 7. Support staff should return a telephone call when promised, even if no progress has been made on a problem. __T__ 8. Of the three essential communication skills, listening comes before understanding and responding. __T__ 9. In discriminative listening, a support agent’s purpose is to learn about the user, such as his or her knowledge level. __F__ 10. The purpose of comprehensive listening is to develop a rapport with a user. __F__ 11. In order to educate users, a support agent should use technical terms and explanations in communications with users. _F___ 12. Empathy means a support agent takes ownership and responsibility for a user’s problem. __T__ 13. A support agent who can empathize with a user is one who understands the problem or question from the user’s point of view. __F__ 14. A common barrier to effective listening is asking probing questions to get additional details about a problem. _T___ 15. One method support agents use to communicate effectively with a user on the telephone is to visualize the user and communicate with the visual image. __F__ 16. To avoid mistakes and misinformation, scripts designed to guide a support agent through an incident should be read verbatim to the user. __F__ 17. Scripts designed to guide a support agent through an incident should ideally be memorized to be effective. ___F_ 18. When reading a lengthy, prepared response to a user, the best strategy is to tell the user you are reading a passage to him or her. __T__ 19. Eye contact and facial expression are examples of nonverbal behavior. __F__ 20. Inexperienced support agents tend to speak too slowly when they experience stress during a conversation with a user. __T__ 21. A rising inflection at the end of a sentence communicates that a support agent is unsure or lacks confidence. ___F_ 22. Empty phrases, such as “Now let me see…,” are effective ways for a support agent to fill pauses in a conversation. __T__ 23. Even in a telephone call, clients can often tell whether a support staff member values the call. __F__ 24. Putting a caller on hold is considered a poor customer service tactic. __T__ 25. Feedback from users, other support agents, and supervisors is useful information for a support agent who wants to develop a personal incident management strategy. __F__ 26. Support agents develop their own incident management strategy from scratch. ___T_ 27. One goal of incident management is to help users be more self-reliant. ___F_ 28. A support agent should always be honest in every response to a user’s questions. __T__ 29. How much information a support agent can divulge to a user is often determined by an organization’s policies. __T__ 30. Goal-directed diagnostic questions are designed to move a support incident to a successful resolution. __F__ 31. Support staff should always provide the information or services a customer needs, no matter what the request. ___F_ 32. Support agents should avoid apologizing to users who have been kept on hold or who have been given the runaround. __F__ 33. One goal of incident management is to give users information about how they should organize their files, improve their personal work habits, and make more effective use of their computers. ___F_ 34. The likely result of increased user self-reliance will be to eliminate the need for user support agents as an occupation. _F___ 35. One goal of user self-reliance is to make users change the way they use computers. __T__ 36. Total user self-reliance is probably not achievable, but it is a worthwhile goal. __F__ 37. Factors such as personality type probably have little impact on the working relationship between a support agent and his or her colleagues. _F___ 38. Employers usually hire support agents whose Myers-Briggs personality type is extrovert. ___T_ 39. Most support workers and computer users are considered to be a mixture of the personality types on the Myers-Briggs dimensions. _F___ 40. A support agent should work to deny the sense of self-importance of users who are “power users.” __F__ 41. A support agent who handles complaints or incidents from angry, upset users should try to move the incident into the problem-solving stage as rapidly as possible. __F__ 42. Most users who are angry or frustrated are personally upset with the support agent. _F___ 43. A blog is a Web site where users who are angry or abusive can go to post complaints about a company’s products or services. _F___ 44. Designers of customer service Web sites find that since Web site content changes frequently, the design of a Web site is less important than its contents. __F__ 45. A commitment to customer service excellence means the customer is always right. __T__ 46. A comprehensive client service orientation among support staff applies to every staff member, and to every mode of user communication. Multiple Choice Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. __D__ 47. Effective communication skills are important primarily to support agents who communicate ____. a. via telephone c. via email b. face-to-face d. any of these __B__ 48. Dissatisfied clients are more likely than satisfied clients to ____. a. resolve support incidents quickly b. contact the help desk repeatedly for assistance c. resolve support incidents at a low tier d. convey a positive business image to other users _D___ 49. Effective communication skills are based primarily on a support agent’s ability to ____. a. listen and read effectively c. communicate solutions to a user b. understand a user’s problem d. any of these _C___ 50. Excellent customer service in a support organization is based primarily on which of these factors? a. The ability to solve user problems b. The ability to communicate effectively with users c. Both A and B d. Neither A nor B _D___ 51. Which of these is not a primary strategy for a support organization that aims for customer service excellence? a. Treat clients with respect. b. Explain to clients what the support organization can do for them. c. Return calls to clients when promised. d. Meet all of a client’s demands. _C___ 52. Analysis and evaluation of a user’s message are likely to occur during which type of listening? a. Discriminative c. Critical b. Comprehensive d. Relational __C__ 53. A support agent should aim to use language that is ____ the language level that the user uses. a. slightly above c. slightly below b. at the same level as d. none of the above __B__ 54. One measure of whether a support agent understands a problem is that he or she can express the user’s problem in ____. a. the user’s words c. industry standard vocabulary b. the support agent’s own words d. none of the above _A___ 55. “I can give you a workaround for this problem, then later we can diagnose the cause of the problem so you don’t encounter it again.” is an example of ____. a. empathy c. sincere greeting b. probing d. nonverbal communication __D__ 56. A user’s first impression of a support agent comes from the ____. a. solution to the problem c. tone and style b. incident script used d. incident greeting __C__ 57. A script to handle a support incident has ____. a. a single sequence of questions and dialog from beginning to end b. a sequence of questions with one decision point c. several sequences of questions with multiple decision points or paths d. none of the above __B__ 58. The most effective strategy for using a script is to ____. a. read the script verbatim to the user c. memorize the script b. restate the script in your own words d. use the script only when needed __D__ 59. Which type of nonverbal behavior is the least effective posture for support agents? a. An open stance c. Establish eye contact b. Face the user d. Fold arms __C__ 60. Which type of nonverbal behavior is suggested for effective voice quality? a. Use inflection to add interest. c. Use a warm, upbeat tone of voice. b. Speak at a normal pitch. d. All of these __C__ 61. Inexperienced support agents tend to speak ____ when they experience stress in a conversation with a user. a. too slow c. too fast b. about the right speed d. none of these __C__ 62. In a telephone communication, which of the following is the telephone activity a support agent least likely needs to develop? a. A call greeting c. A way to hang up on abusive users b. A way to transfer a call d. A dialog to put a call on hold _B___ 63. Which of these is not one of the four goals of incident management? a. Make the user more self-reliant. b. Complete the incident in the least amount of time possible. c. Manage stress levels for both user and support agent. d. Provide the user with the information he or she needs. _A___ 64. When a support agent does not know the answer to a question, a good incident management strategy is to tell the user ____. a. the support agent will research the question and get back to the user b. the support agent doesn’t know and nobody else does either c. the question isn’t as important as other questions d. to call back later when a different agent is available __B__ 65. Which of these is not a recommended incident management strategy for support agents? a. Ask goal-directed diagnostic questions. b. Don’t admit that you’re wrong or don’t know. c. Say thanks. d. Teach user self-reliance. __C__ 66. A support agent who feels that a user needs substantial assistance with the organization of files on his or her computer system should ____. a. indicate how upset he or she is with the user’s file organization b. tell the user how to straighten out his or her file organization c. point the user to useful information about file organization d. intimidate the user into changing his or her file organization _B___ 67. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) measures ____. a. customer service ethic c. nonverbal behavior b. personality and work style preferences d. user self-reliance __C__ 68. Incidents that involve complaints ____. a. should be terminated as soon as possible b. are likely from angry and frustrated users c. are a valuable source of feedback and suggestions about products d. should be escalated immediately to experienced support staff who know how to handle them __D__ 69. Support Web sites that use Web 2.0 technologies differ from earlier support Web sites primarily in ____. a. including frequently asked questions (FAQs) b. the authoring language used to build and maintain the site c. improved site navigation tools d. an emphasis on collaboration and communication among users __B__ 70. A feature of a Web site where discussions are posted by members of a user community is called a ____. a. blog c. chat room b. user forum d. Twitter __D__ 71. A Web site that contains large numbers of misspelled words and grammatical errors fails which of these general criteria? a. Content c. Format b. Organization d. Mechanics __B__ 72. Posts to a user forum with commentary on a single topic, arranged in date order, are called _____. a. Web 2.0 c. a blog b. a thread d. Web