Listening to Complaints

How do you feel about complaints?

Successful supervisors often discover that since they've developed the ability to truly listen to people, that people take that opportunity to complain. Why not? Think about how few people truly listen to us. Once you feel heard, it is wonderful.

But listening to one complaint after another can be tough. It can even be counter-productive. For me, I often drift out of my carefully practiced listening and into wondering when is this person going to DO something about it?

So why wonder into it -- go full speed ahead. Redirect. Refocus. Reframe. Sometimes all you need to do is listen and let a person vent, but more often than that a more effective strategy is to prod them into moving. Stir their passion into action. Encourage them to either do something about the issue they are complaining about or simply drop it. If it is truly out of their control or influence, maybe dropping it is their best option. But, if they CAN do something or influence someone regarding their complaint then the time to do that is now.

Keep in mind that maybe YOU are that person they are seeking to influence. Then you get to choose.

Your job is not to listen to complaints. Ask the complainer to collaborate on a solution.

It will show how much either of you care about the issue, and how much either of you can do about it.

Who knows? Maybe the two of you will make dramatic improvements in something.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

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