• Community Partnerships and Priorities
  • Aboriginal Partnerships
  • Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania
  • Child and Youth Wellbeing
  • Community Policy and Engagement
  • Community and Disability Services
    • About
    • Accessible Island
    • Community Family Violence and Sexual Assault
    • Community Services
    • Compliments and Complaints
    • COVID-19 Disability Service Providers Preparedness and Response
    • Disability Inclusion Bill - Have your say
    • Disability Inclusion and Safeguarding Bill 2024
    • Disability Services
    • Gambling Support Program
    • Minister's Disability Consultative Group
    • National Disability Insurance Scheme
    • Neighbourhood Houses Program
    • Office of the Senior Practitioner
    • Premier's Disability Advisory Council
    • Quality and Safety Services
    • Tasmanian Disability Services Act 2011
  • Community Grants
  • Contact
• Digital Strategy and Services
• Office of Local Government
• Office of Parliamentary Counsel
• Office of Review and Evaluation
• Office of the Secretary
• Office of Security and Emergency Management
• Corporate and Government Services
• Policy Division
• Service Tasmania Unit
• State Service Management Office

Contact Details

By phone
Find the number of a specific division or office to contact them directly or call Service Tasmania on 1300 135 513.

Our staff
Use the Tasmanian Government Directory to find staff contact details

Social media
Follow our social media accounts to keep up to date with specific programs and initiatives.

3.7. Use of appreciative inquiry approach to complaints

A common reaction to receiving a complaint can be defensiveness. It is often perceived as a criticism of the service rather than being seen as an opportunity to improve. A critical aspect of responding to and learning  from a complaint is the extent to which you look for what you are doing well and then seek to do more of this, rather than focusing exclusively on what is not working and how to fix it.

In bringing about organisational change the appreciative inquiry (AI) method offers a way to embrace organisational change. Its assumption is simple: ‘every organisation has something that works right – things that give it life when it is most alive, effective, successful, and connected in healthy ways to its stakeholders and communities. AI begins by identifying what is positive and connecting to it in ways that heighten energy and vision for change.’ (Cooperrider, Whitney and Stavros, 2003).  It encourages organisations to identify what is working well and then seeks to broaden this successful approach to other tasks that may not be performed as well by the organisation.

This is based on the premise that organisations change in the direction in which they inquire. Therefore organisations who inquire into problems will keep finding problems, but an organisation which attempts to appreciate what is best in itself will discover more and more that is good. These discoveries can then help to build a new future where the best becomes the norm (Seel, 2008).

The attached self-audit tool encourages organisations to look at what is working well in their service and how this experience can be broadened to other areas of operation.

Thought

Useful questions to ask are:

• What is it about your organisation – its structure, values, systems, processes, policies, staff, leaders, strategy – that creates the conditions where receiving complaints can flourish?
• Are staff confident in dealing with complaints?
• How does the culture of the organisation foster an environment where it is seen as being OK to complain?
• What does the organisation do really well and how can this be applied to managing complaints?
• Tell a story about a complaint you received recently that resulted in a positive outcome for the person who made the complaint and also led to an improvement in the service for others.

---

Back

Index

Next