Audience:
Responsibilities:
Tools Used:
Active Listening Skills
This eLearning concept project was created to help customer-facing contact centre agents, both new and existing, improve their soft skills in communication within a busy telecommunications organisation.
The goal: improve customer satisfaction results through engaging interactions.
New and existing customer-facing contact centre employees who manage various customer interactions within the telco sector.
Project manager, instructional designer, graphic designer, lead trainer
Articulate Rise 360, MIRO, H5P, Adobe Illustrator, Canva, invideo AI, Narakeet, Microsoft Word, ChatGPT
The Problem and Solution
The client identified a critical need to address declining customer satisfaction in their contact centres. In 2023, there was an increase in unresolved inquiries and negative feedback, with 26% of customers reporting unresolved issues. This contributed to higher churn rates and repeat calls. The primary cause was a lack of practical active listening skills among agents. Many agents failed to engage with customers, missing key verbal cues and struggling to build rapport.
To tackle this issue, I created an eLearning program to enhance active listening skills for the client’s customer-facing agents. The program emphasises the development of active listening techniques, including paraphrasing, demonstrating empathy, asking probing and reflective questions, and responding to verbal cues. This tailored training will enable agents to manage customer interactions more effectively, resulting in increased satisfaction, reduced repeat inquiries, and stronger customer relationships.
My Process
To bring this project to life, I leaned on the structure of the ADDIE instructional design model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) to ensure its robustness.
Analysis: I met with subject matter experts (SMEs) to review performance metrics and customer feedback to identify gaps in the agents' active listening skills. This allowed me to pinpoint the core challenges impacting customer satisfaction. I then created a design proposal to address the need for an eLearning program aimed at improving customer satisfaction metrics while upskilling employees.
Design: I crafted learning objectives and mapped out interactive modules via a storyboard that would serve as the blueprint for the eLearning program, teaching techniques like paraphrasing, empathy, effective questioning, and verbal cue recognition. The focus was on practical, real-world application using holistic teaching and learning strategies. Generative AI tools were utilised to fine-tune text, scripting, content, audio, and imagery.
Development: Once the storyboard was approved, I created engaging multimedia-rich content using Articulate Rise 360 for the eLearning program and H5P and MIRO to incorporate simulations and gamified learning artefacts to increase participation and retention.
Implementation: Once the content was developed, new onboarding staff received training on the new content through a pilot program and train-the-trainer sessions to ensure a smooth handover of learning content and address any delivery/implementation concerns.
Evaluation: Once the eLearning was fully developed, I asked SMEs and professional instructional designers to evaluate the project and provide feedback so that I could apply iterations and ensure smooth functionality and consistency across the design. I also assessed the program’s effectiveness through assessment results, participant feedback and performance metrics, continuously refining the content to meet learners’ needs.
Artefacts
Design Proposal
The design proposal was a crucial element in the Analysis phase of the ADDIE model, providing a clear roadmap for the clients’ eLearning program. I began by working with SMEs to identify performance gaps through customer feedback and call monitoring data, revealing a need to improve agents' active listening skills.
The proposal outlined key learning objectives and defined the instructional approach, ensuring the training would meet both business needs and learner requirements. This included elements such as learning theories (constructivism, connectivism, and experiential learning) to support engagement, and a curriculum design focused on real-world application through simulations and gamified activities.
The proposal also emphasised the importance of using the ADDIE model to guide the creation process, ensuring systematic development through each phase. The proposal served as a foundation for delivering an effective, measurable learning solution by carefully mapping out instructional strategies, assessment methods, and learner outcomes.
This step ensured that the training program was aligned with business goals, addressing skill deficiencies to improve customer satisfaction, reduce repeat calls, and strengthen the overall customer experience.
Storyboard
When creating the storyboard for the Articulate Rise 360 module, I aimed to design an engaging and interactive learning experience. Using MIRO for visual mapping and Generative AI for screen based textual content and instructions, I structured the course into clear, progressive sections that aligned with the learning objectives. Each section was carefully storyboarded to ensure a logical flow of content, beginning with foundational concepts like active listening definitions and advancing to more complex techniques such as empathy and handling verbal cues.
The storyboard included detailed descriptions of content, interactions, multimedia elements, and assessments. I mapped out quizzes, simulations, and case studies that would provide practical, hands-on learning opportunities. The focus was on real-world scenarios that the agents would encounter on the job, allowing them to apply the skills learned in the module directly to their roles.
Using a combination of text, video, and gamified elements, I ensured the module would appeal to various learning styles. This detailed planning in the storyboard phase was essential for providing a cohesive and engaging final product that would effectively build agents’ active listening skills and improve overall performance in customer interactions.
Full Development
The full development of the eLearning module for the client involved creating an interactive, learner-centred experience using Articulate Rise 360, combined with game-based assessments using H5P and a virtual workshop using MIRO.
In Articulate Rise 360, I built the foundational eLearning module, which covers essential active listening skills through engaging content. This included interactive text, videos, quizzes, and real-world scenarios, ensuring that learners could apply the skills they acquired immediately. The module is accessible across various devices, offering flexibility for learners to complete it at their own pace. View the Articulate Rise 360 module here.
I incorporated a game-based element in H5P for a summative assessment, making learning more interactive and competitive. This allowed learners to test their skills in an engaging and holsitiuc way, with real-time feedback on performance. Access the H5P assessment here.
Finally, I integrated a virtual workshop on MIRO to foster collaboration and deeper understanding. The workshop featured group activities, discussions, and brainstorming, allowing learners to reflect on their progress and enhance their skills through peer interaction. View the MIRO workshop board here. An accompanying video of the workshop in action can be found here.
Reflection and Takeaways
Developing the eLearning module for the client was an enriching experience that sharpened my instructional design skills. One thing that worked particularly well was integrating interactive elements like the H5P game-based assessment and the MIRO virtual workshop. These elements fostered greater engagement, and learners responded positively to the hands-on, real-world simulations.
However, the project wasn’t without its challenges. Ensuring the content was accessible across multiple platforms while maintaining a seamless learner experience required careful planning and testing. Time management was also crucial, as balancing the different phases of development—content creation, multimedia design, and peer collaboration—proved demanding. This was overcome by prioritising tasks, setting clear milestones for each development phase, and regularly reviewing progress to ensure deadlines were met.
The feedback from stakeholders was largely positive, especially regarding the practical applications of the active listening techniques and the interactive components. However, some recommended adding more varied case studies to broaden the real-world context. I responded to the recommendation by planning to incorporate a wider range of case studies in future iterations, ensuring the content reflects diverse real-world scenarios and enhances learner relevance.
If I were to approach this project again, I would focus more on early collaboration with subject matter experts to streamline content creation and validation. I would also look to incorporate more adaptive learning techniques to tailor the experience to different learner needs and paces. Overall, the project was a success, with valuable lessons for future designs.