What if you had just five minutes to conduct a needs analysis? And, you had to do it over the phone, without observing the environment or anyone in it. Oh, and you had to build rapport and trust while simultaneously entering the information you gathered into an electronic call record. And you do this for four consecutive hours. Every week.

The Setting

Welcome to a community crisis center where trained volunteers answer the phones 24/7, fielding requests for help and information from a cross-section of county residents. Supported by an extensive resource database, knowledgeable staff, colleagues, and their own life skills and knowledge, volunteers have to be ready for anything. Indeed, calls can be about anything—from questions about local government services to requests for rental assistance, drug abuse treatment, counseling services, homeless shelters—to help with bereavement issues, mental illness, and suicide. Sometimes, the caller just needs to talk.

The Challenge

Most calls last less than 20 minutes, which means that the volunteer conducts a needs analysis at light speed. Like the analysis challenge in the workplace, ensuring that all needs are identified is the goal, but because a life may be at risk, it is critical not to miss anything. The caller may be distressed, confused, disorganized, in danger, or unable to articulate a clear problem or request for help.

In addition, callers may not be native speakers of English, lack basic communication skills, and may be drunk, on drugs, or belligerent. They can be of any age. Often, their experiences in the world and their views of society differ greatly from those of the volunteer on the phone. To bridge the divide and help the caller, a solid grounding in the skills we use for a workplace needs analysis is an invaluable bonus for the volunteer. It is a small step from the corporate client who is reluctant to spend time on analysis to the time crunch that comes with every hotline call.

Communication Protocol

Fortunately, the hotline environment encourages the jettisoning of politically correct (PC) business interaction. While initially uncomfortable, volunteers quickly learn to appreciate the license to ask all the highly non-PC questions they could never consider in the workplace: “What is the source of your income?” “And exactly what drugs are you addicted to?” “Do all six of your children have different fathers?” While it is important to gather critical information to help the caller, it is equally important to be respectful when asking questions. The combination of non-PC questions and the requisite follow-on inquiries move the analysis ahead quickly.

A real eye-opener in crisis work is that the majority of callers, particularly the regulars who phone in daily and have done so for years, struggle with multiple issues. No one, it seems, is “just” bi-polar, or obese, or unemployed, or living on the streets; they are likely to be facing all these challenges. So how are callers helped?

Toward Solutions

As we know from our experiences with workplace needs analyses, helping the client organize all the issues and then deciding which one(s) to address for the biggest potential payoff, is often the best course of action. On the hotline, volunteers apply a triage technique to help callers decide how to leverage their most critical issue(s) for results likely to mitigate some or all of the other concerns. In the example above, referring the caller to a full-service homeless shelter that provides counseling, health, and employment support could be the most effective overall solution.

The mission of a crisis center is to save lives and keep people safe. Suicidal callers often receive the greatest benefit from respectful but direct probing into their circumstances: “You say you want to kill yourself. Do you have a plan?” “Have you attempted suicide in the past?” “What happened?” “Have you ever been diagnosed with depression or a mental illness?” “Where are you right now?” With critical information collected through careful questioning, the volunteer can usually help the suicidal caller to identify a reason to continue living and formulate a strategy for both short and long-term survival.

Value Added

Needs analysis is the responsibility of everyone in a leadership role; it is not the exclusive territory of the performance improvement practitioner. Leaders conduct needs analyses and choose solutions every day. From responding to a massive disaster like September 11, to helping one caller on a crisis hotline, needs analysis skills are invaluable. Where can you put yours to work?