On-line guidance

In the past guidance was offered mostly through face to face contact. Nowadays the use of Information Communication Technology has a huge impact on guidance work. Different communication channels such as web chat, e-mail, on-line discussion forum and even text messages are available. Although these are becoming more popular, some people can argue about their usefulness and effectiveness.

I could see pros and cons of e-guidance form the perspective of client and adviser. I agree that e-guidance saves time, and is an easy way to communicate with different people. I also believe that being anonymous is an advantage of using e-guidance, because some people might not feel relaxed enough to ask certain questions and find out more information in a face to face situation. I also agree that by using e-guidance an adviser has time to think about the answers which she/he is giving to the client. I think this is very useful so that the adviser can check with colleagues and research the answer, rather than giving a quick response. The adviser could feel under less pressure, and more comfortable to give a high quality service. I think the challenge for advisers using e-mail service can be learning to analyze the text and building a warm rapport and dialogue through the written text!!!!

I could see some disadvantages of e-guidance. There are some concerns about the lack of dialogue and interactivity between adviser and client. I am sure people always will be looking for interaction with other people as this is a human nature!! It does not matter if is a guidance or different area. I think communicating online could make it more difficult for the advisers to identify clients needs, and match their needs to relevant resources!!! Advisers could find it difficult to understand what is in the client’s mind and read between the lines!! So, to fix that can take a while sending messaging back and forwards. In my opinion this could be a real risk for effective guidance!!!

I would not be surprised if in a future one to one contact disappeared. Now everything is about moving things into information technology and using online services. It will be interesting to see which way guidance goes…