Question 1. (25 Marks)

Mrs Smith bought a laptop for her son for online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. After two months of use, the audio facilities of the laptop malfunctioned. Mrs Smith visited the support department for the laptop company. Paul, a senior support help desk agent attended to Mrs Smiths query. Since Paul, has dealt with several similar problems, he told Mrs Smith that there is no need to continue explaining since he knows the problem with Mrs Smiths laptop. He instructed Mrs Smith to go home and update the laptop using the latest drivers from the internet. Mrs Smith didnt want that solution because she didnt know how to update computer drivers. While Mrs Smith was talking, Paul was typing the incident. Mrs Smith got upset with the customer service she received. She shouted and demanded to be served by the manager.

(i) If you were Paul, describe the steps and give examples of the actions and activities you could have taken to ensure that your communication with Mrs Smith becomes effective? (9) (ii) Identify and explain three barriers to effective communication that have been demonstrated by Paul in this case. (6) (iii) Describe in detail, the steps you would have taken to calm Mrs Smith down when she was shouting. (8)

Question 2. (7 Marks)

With the aid of diagrams, discuss sequential and iterative problem-solving approaches.