Managing Complaints

Managing Complaints provides managers with the tools necessary to approach complaints in a way that is supportive of employee and team goals. This workshop makes clear that when you really listen, you must do so in a way that is non-judgmental. That's critical because what appears to be a minor issue to you may appear to the complaining employee to be a major problem. When you really problem-solve a complaint, you use specific techniques to identify the potentially serious issues, if any, that underlie the complaint. That's also critical because many complaints that seem minor actually mask significant issues with broad productivity impact.

During this 4-5 hour workshop, managers will review video presentations and case studies, participate in group discussions, practice new skills, and receive immediate feedback. They will leave with implementations tools, troubleshooting guides and additional resources to help them apply the skills they have learned on the job.

Managers and team leaders will be able to:

  • Understand why all team member complaints must be dealt with rather than ignored or dismissed.
  • Be more sensitive to all the problems-major or trivial, real or imagined-that can lie behind complaints.
  • Understand techniques used to determine underlying problems, which are not always the same as those the team member thinks are responsible for his/her difficulties.
  • Use various techniques to solve such problems while maintaining a positive relationship with the team member.