Telephone helplines

[Pipsqueak]

A)
What sort of thing would you ring a (work) helpline for:

support (emotional or practical)
advice
someone to talk to



B)
When (if) you ring a helpline - ie for work,

what is it you need or expect from that helpline?
24hr service, or would 'office hours' suffice?
Do you need someone knowledgable / sympathetic (ie someone who has done the job you are ringing up about)

Is it practical advice that you need depending on the situation - such as how to draft a letter, fill in a contract, a client is giving you grief - your rights and how to deal with specific situations

[The Juggler]

pipster it's sunday night - you need to chill and keep this stuff for working days honey :laughing::laughing: having said that glad we have YOU on the case xxx

in answer

i might want emotional support (especially if I was new and had no-one more experienced I knew or a hopeless DO or CC manager)

i'd want specific legal advice depending on the contract and paperwork I have

I'd want someone to tell me this is what to do or.. i don't know, I WILL find out and get back to you.

i think a multiple line day time service woudl be good with a ring back service for out of hours (like the GP)

i would like someone knowledgeable but not averse to having a call taker (like NHS direct) as long as someone knowledgeable calls me back. Sympathy would be good :laughing:

i think that helpline would be even more fab if they could have a bank of standard letters or draft them for you and e-mail them to you :thumbsup:

[Penny1959]

I would like a 24 hour help line that had people who understood and who knew what they were on about.

Having said that I would only want 24hr for those things that can't wait until office hours - so emergency stuff only.

However it should be remembered that a childminders 'office hours' are longer than most other jobs - so maybe 6am - 9pm for office hours and the rest emergency only.

(I used to offer this service to the network childminders when I was a network coordinator - and it was only abused once - by someone calling about a non emergency situation 'after hours')

I think it would be reassuring to know the service was there even if you never used it - sort of like an insurance - I would be happy to pay to have this service available.

As Juggler has said it would be good to have email support as well - not only for follow up to phone calls - but to request documents via email .


As to what sort of support - well all of it - and being who I am everything together - because if I have a 'issue', I also tend to be stressed - so practical and emotional together please.

Penny :)

[flowerpots]

I would like a 24 hour help line that had people who understood and who knew what they were on about.

Having said that I would only want 24hr for those things that can't wait until office hours - so emergency stuff only.

However it should be remembered that a childminders 'office hours' are longer than most other jobs - so maybe 6am - 9pm for office hours and the rest emergency only.

(I used to offer this service to the network childminders when I was a network coordinator - and it was only abused once - by someone calling about a non emergency situation 'after hours')

I think it would be reassuring to know the service was there even if you never used it - sort of like an insurance - I would be happy to pay to have this service available.

As Juggler has said it would be good to have email support as well - not only for follow up to phone calls - but to request documents via email .


As to what sort of support - well all of it - and being who I am everything together - because if I have a 'issue', I also tend to be stressed - so practical and emotional together please.

Penny :)

This would be the most important bit for me, I need someone who will understand why im flapping and to tell me to pull it together, this is what you need to do.

The document bank would also be a good thing to have.

I think I would want an office hours help line. like penny said 'childminding' office hours.

[Roseolivia]

A)
What sort of thing would you ring a (work) helpline for:

support (emotional or practical)
advice
someone to talk to

all of the above

B)
When (if) you ring a helpline - ie for work,

what is it you need or expect from that helpline?
24hr service, or would 'office hours' suffice?
Do you need someone knowledgable / sympathetic (ie someone who has done the job you are ringing up about)

Need someone who knows what they're talking about, understands our job and all singing off the same song sheet. Doesn't need to be 24hr helpline but like Penny said we're not normal office hours so maybe 7am until 8pm.

Is it practical advice that you need depending on the situation - such as how to draft a letter, fill in a contract, a client is giving you grief - your rights and how to deal with specific situations

Are you thinking of setting up a childminder organisation with all these questions or are you under cover?:laughing:

[Penny1959]

Are you thinking of setting up a childminder organisation with all these questions or are you under cover?:laughing:

There is an idea Pip - and I have not forgot all those posts for me to do 'something' - when I said I was leaving NCMA. Maybe you or I or someone SHOULD set up something?

So now I want to know what you guys want - get on and answer Pips questions :D


Penny :)

PS
Are you under cover PIp? and if so who for?

[sarah707]

Are you thinking of setting up a childminder organisation with all these questions or are you under cover?:laughing:

I think she's under cover ... very very deep :cool: We should re-name her 'Squeak the Sleuth' :laughing:

I'd like something that will be there for me on a practical level - like MM were when I had a non paying parent.

I would like an organisation that has answers or knows where to get them when childminders are in trouble.

I get so many calls and messages from people who don't know where to turn or who have got themselves in a pickle.

I help as much as I can as we all do on here... a professional body might have the manpower and more time to dedicate to them.

I'll keep thinking :D

[AgentTink]

I would be looking for a helpline that was available for some good core hours of say 6am until 9pm.

I would like to think that the person on the other end was knowledgable enough to provide support with advice on practical steps I could take. I would be more than happy to get a call back if it gave people time to get me the correct advice

I would like draft letters and other such documents.

I would like for the helpline to help with things like how to complete obs as I know so many who struggle with this area and I try to help them when I have the time, but maybe some real coaching would really help them get to grips with it. As I said in a previous post some sort of 3 month long phone course once every 3 weeks to help coach childminders on observations or planning.

I would love it to be able to offer practical advice about contracts, policies, illness and sickness etc as these little niggles could so easily be dealt with in a few minutes, and as a childminder I would feel more confident with my parents armed with the correct information.

I would like the phone line to them send out a news letter with hints and tips on of the most common types of questions it gets asked.

[The Juggler]

There is an idea Pip - and I have not forgot all those posts for me to do 'something' - when I said I was leaving NCMA. Maybe you or I or someone SHOULD set up something?

So now I want to know what you guys want - get on and answer Pips questions :D


Penny :)

PS
Are you under cover PIp? and if so who for?



i think she's just finding out answers so she can tell you and Sarah what your new organisation will need ;):laughing: