Asking good questions and clarifying requests
For anyone who receives requests from managers, colleagues or customers: service desk and customer service staff, administrators, coordinators and analysts. No prerequisites. You'll identify what a request is missing before you start work, choose open, closed and follow-up questions that get useful answers without leading the person, rewrite vague, leading and multi-part questions, confirm what was agreed with a play-back and a teach-back check, and write a clarification message or request summary that records the details and assumptions. The techniques are adapted from GOV.UK Service Manual guidance on interviews and question design, the UK Government AQuA Book's guidance on scoping work with the person who commissions it, and AHRQ's teach-back method. 'Active listening on calls and in meetings' covers listening skills in more depth. Your organisation's request process and approval limits apply.
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- About 95 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Identify what a request is missing: the purpose, scope, deadline, constraints and who decides
- Choose open, closed and follow-up questions that get the information you need without leading the person
- Rewrite vague, leading and multi-part questions into clear, single, neutral questions
- Confirm a request by playing it back in your own words and using teach-back to check next steps
- Write a clarification message or request summary that asks only necessary questions and records what was agreed
Course outline
- 1.Identifying what a request is missingLesson · 15 min
- 2.Choosing open, closed and follow-up questionsLesson · 15 min
- 3.Rewriting vague, leading and multi-part questionsLesson · 15 min
- 4.Confirming a request with play-back and teach-backLesson · 15 min
- 5.Writing a clarification message and request summaryLesson · 15 min
- 6.Asking good questions and clarifying requests: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 14 questions
- 7.Asking good questions and clarifying requests: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- GOV.UK Service Manual: Using in-depth interviews (open, neutral questions and follow-ups)
- GOV.UK Service Manual: Designing good questions
- The AQuA Book: guidance on producing quality analysis for government (2025), chapter 6: Engagement and scoping
- AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit: Use the Teach-Back Method, Tool 5 (reviewed April 2024)
See it with your own jobs and topics
Tell us about your team and we'll walk you through setup, from choosing jobs to your first skills check.