I was at a seminar about a year ago when the speaker asked for a show of hands, “how many of you have someone that works for you that’s hostile, angry, mean, full of complaints, gruff and in general is just unpleasant to be around?” Nearly everyone raised their hand. She paused then said, “and you pay them?” — what a great, “snap back to reality moment” – why are you paying someone to ONLY complain? Because you tolerate it.
Implement an “if you bring a complaint, bring a solution” policy with your employees… if your customer complains, ask for their solution. Simply, quit allowing “whiny complainy” people to surround you. (yes I made up the word comlainy…)
Now, it might not be a great solution that the person presents, but it does get them in a solutions mindset. This will allow you to think about the solution AND the problem. It’s really easy to dismiss a complaint as “just another thing HE or SHE complains about” but if they say, “this sucks… here’s how we can do it better” you might actually see the problem!
PS: You are still in control of the solution… the one presented might be the best one, or it might spur you to a variation! Either way, it’s going to help you get positive feedback.
PSS: Why the Rubik’s Cube… they were very popular when I was in Middle School… fastest I ever solved one was one minute-twenty eight seconds. Believe it or not, my classmates used to pay me a dollar to solve their cubes for them. I can still solve it and for a dollar I’ll solve yours! haha
Action Step
1- Start right now, implement a “no complaint without a solution problem” – this goes for employees and vendors.
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Listen to Episode #52 of the Two Minute Commute
