Service delivery

Good service delivery is thinking about the experience of the people you are supporting or dealing with during your volunteering activities.

We all know what good and bad service looks and feels like and ensuring you are offering positive service delivery is very simple and should leave the people you interact with feeling valued, heard and satisfied. 

Top tips to help you with service delivery

1. Centre the person

Prioritise the person you are supporting/interacting with and their experience.

Think about how you would want to be treated and show empathy, kindness, and genuine care in your interactions.

2. Understanding their needs

Listen actively to understand what the person you are supporting truly wants, this could also be the staff or members of the public you encounter at a site.

Tailor your approach based on their unique requirements, this could mean paying attention to their body language and matching your response appropriately for example.

Repeat back to ensure you have understood.

Clarify anything you are unsure about. For example, if you are doing a Community Response shop and the person you are supporting requests a specific brand/type of product, you could ask what to do if this is not available.

3. Communicating effectively

Ensure clear and positive communication throughout your interactions, our Positive Communication guides can help you with this in more detail.

If you are supporting someone over the telephone or face to face you can set expectations about the length of time you are available to support them upfront to remove any difficulties later.

Remember, good service delivery focusses on the person receiving support and their needs.