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DEALING WITH UNFORESEEN PROBLEMS OR
COMPLAINTS
By definition, this is
the one type of situation that you
cannot prepare for, because it is
unforeseen.
However, you can have a
prepared strategy for dealing with this
type of problem.
There is a balance to be
drawn here.
On the one hand you want
your staff to come to you with problems,
worries, work difficulties etc. If they
feel that they cannot bring problems to
you, they will either not raise any at
all, so you will be taken by surprise
when things go wrong, or they will take
the problem to somebody else, probably
to your manager.
On the other hand, you
should not want your staff to pester you
with trivial issues that they ought to
be capable of sorting out for
themselves. Some managers do
unconsciously encourage this because
they would rather spend time on sorting
out other people’s problems, which is
easy, than on their proper tasks, which
are more difficult.
This strategy will create
that balance. It makes staff feel that
you are helpful and approachable, but at
the same time makes it clear that they
need to have done as much as they can to
resolve a problem before they bring it
to you
1. Listen. Take notes.
Give empathy.
2. Probe for facts,
causes and possible solutions. Take
notes.
3. Summarise.
4. Provide any facts
required. Explain your view of the
matter.
5. Clarify specific
action(s). Set follow up date if
required.
6. Thank the person for
raising the matter.
Whatever the outcome of
the interaction, they need to feel that
they have been handled correctly. This
set of steps will ensure that they feel
that they have done the right thing.
1. Listen. Take notes.
Give empathy.
When someone comes to
your door to say they need to talk to
you, you have no idea how urgent or
important the problem is. You will
probably have been working on something
else at the time that is urgent and
important to you, and you may not have
wanted to be interrupted.
However, you now have
been interrupted. You must respond to
this situation immediately. This does
not mean that you can give the person as
much time as they want. You have to make
a decision, but you can’t make that
decision until you know more about the
problem.
Check how long the person
thinks they need. Either allocate some
time now, or check whether the problem
can wait until you have more free time.
Book a specific time for a meeting.
A polite, but specific,
question will help you decide what to
do.
Compare:
“Come back later, I’m
busy.”
“I’ll be free at 11.00,
can you wait till then?”
“I can give you a couple
of minutes now, but if you want longer
I’m free at 11.00.”
Sometimes the person
clearly feels they must talk to you now,
even when offered more time later, so
you just have to let it happen. If you
use this structure you will deal with
the situation in the quickest and most
mutually satisfactory way.
Your first action has to
be to show that you are listening. Use
phrases like
"I can see that you are
annoyed about something. Sit down and
tell me what's on your mind."
The issues raised could
be anything from an equipment breakdown
to an intense personal problem.
If you start to take
notes it shows the person that you are
listening, and also helps later with
problem-solving.
2. Probe for facts,
causes and possible solutions. Take
notes.
At the beginning you only
know that there is a problem. You have
no idea of the details, or of what needs
to be done (or even if anything
can/should be done).
Probing questions will
help you ascertain the facts.
"So, what did he actually
say?"
"How often has this
happened?"
"Is anyone else
involved?"
"What do you think is
causing this?"
"What do you think would
resolve the problem?"
The most important
question is:
“What have you done about
this so far?” The more you use this type
of question, the more accountable people
will become.
3. Summarise.
Recap the facts and any
feelings expressed.
The problem could just
have been a technical one:
“So, the packing machine
has needed re-setting three times this
morning, and you’re concerned that it
may not be able to cope with next week’s
rush.”
Or it could be a personal
issue:
“So, Ralph wouldn’t talk
to you when you asked him for
information today and yesterday. This is
annoying you because it means you
weren’t able to work on your report when
you had intended.
4. Provide any facts
required. Explain your view of the
matter.
“That machine was due a
service next month. From what you have
said, it looks like that needs to be
brought forward.”
"There is a company
policy on discrimination which seeks to
prevent the behaviour you have
described. I cannot take any action
until I have investigated further, but I
do believe it is a problem which needs
to be resolved."
"It is part of your
contract that you may be required to
work alternate Saturdays. I know don't
like doing it. However, the schedule was
agreed six months ago and I am not going
to change it for one person. I have no
objection if you can find someone to
swap".
“It is part of Ralph’s
accountability to provide you with
information, and I do need your reports
in on time. I need this problem to be
resolved.
5. Clarify specific
action(s). Set follow up date if
required.
Wherever possible, put
the action back to the person who has
raised the problem, otherwise you get a
reputation as a “sponge”; someone who
absorbs all the spare tasks. People will
tend to dump more and more tasks and
decisions onto you.
Giving tasks back to
people enhances their feelings of
empowerment and self-esteem.
It also sends out a
message that when people come to you
with a problem, they might as well bring
a couple of potential solutions with
them.
Particularly for
technical and procedural problems you
should aim to steer people away from the
attitude:
“Here is a problem. You
need to do something about it.”
And towards an approach
like:
“Here is a problem. What
it means is... What I’ve tried so far
is... Our options are X and Y. I’ve
investigated both. X is quicker and
cheaper. Y is more expensive but more
reliable. Which would you like me to
do?”
Each time you use this
technique on people it shifts the whole
team towards this latter style.
“I’d like you to call the
service company and explain the
situation. Ask them to bring forward the
scheduled service. Could you let me know
by the end of today what you’ve
arranged?”
For problems involving
interpersonal relations it is often
possible, and preferable, to push the
action back to the person who raised the
problem. This should be done in the same
empowering way.
Compare:
“It’s your problem. You
need to sort it.”
“I’d like you to fix a
meeting with Ralph to see if you can
agree a way of getting the information
you need within both of your time
constraints.”
For problems where you
currently have only one side of the
story you will need to take further
action
"So you are going back to
work and will not talk to X about this
issue. I will talk with X tomorrow
morning, and I want you to come back to
me at 9.00 on Friday week to let me know
if anything has changed".
6. Thank the person for
raising the matter.
This not just courtesy,
and it is not necessarily saying that
their feelings about the problem are
justified. It is a tool to ensure that
people keep you informed about
problems.
The person needs to go
away feeling that they can come back to
you with other matters that need your
attention. Thanking them for bringing
their concern to you creates this
impression.
"Thanks for bringing this
to my attention. You did the right
thing."
At the same time you have
just put them through a process where
they have had to work to convince you
that there is a problem needing your
action. They came in wanting to dump an
action on you. They have probably gone
out with more actions but feeling good
about it.
Exercise:
Consider how you would
handle the situation when:
1. A staff
member complains about another staff
member's personal hygiene.
2. A staff
member comes in to complain that the
duty roster will cause them to miss
their child's school sports day.
3. A colleague (the
warehouse night shift manager) complains
that your people (the day shift) are
slowing down his team’s work. They tidy
up the pallets at the end of the day,
packing them together too tightly. His
team have to waste time at the start of
their shift moving the pallets so that
the forklifts have room to manoeuvre.
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