Assignment 10.1: Do’s and don’ts of referral

a. In your personal life, have you ever referred someone to a service provider, and did this backfire on you? For example, did you ever refer someone to a restaurant you enjoyed, while this person followed up your advice and had a horrible experience?
Try to analyse the situation and list the conditions why you could label this as a “bad referral”.

For example: was your visit to the restaurant recent or where you not aware of the change of restaurant owner? Were you aware of the needs and preferences of your friend? For example, did you know your friend did not like spicy food, the speciality of the restaurant? Maybe you were unaware of other restaurant options in neighbourhood? Try to analyse a situation in your daily life, and list the conditions that have led to this “bad referral”.

In our jobs, the referrals we make can have much more serious consequences than having a bad dinner at a restaurant. It can affect the safety and well-being of the person you intend to refer or harm the privacy and anonymity of the person. It is therefore even more crucial to assess the risks and be aware of the conditions that should be met, in order to be able to (safely) refer someone to another service provider.

b. In a., have you identified what the key elements are, that that need to be in place before you can refer someone to a service? For example:

• Understand the needs of the person(s) you intend to refer
• Know the service provider/organisation/person you are referring to
• Be aware of relevant service providers in your area/region/country
• Be aware of the risks of referral (confidentiality, safety, anonymity)
• Can you think of any other element that needs to be in place before referring someone to a service?

Reflect on how this applies to your own work and list the do’s and don’ts of when you should refer someone to another organisation that provides the needed service, and when you should not refer?

Share your list with your colleagues – this might give you a good starting point to develop your own guidelines on referrals!