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No one ever complained themselves into happiness

I worked for a wise manager once. I say he was wise because he had a certain way of explaining things that made sense to me. I had approached him on one occasion about an issue concerning my position with the unit (military) and he had essentially turned down my request. It was the classic issue of being used in areas you knew were not to your full potential, and he agreed that I would be of better use in another section, but he had no one to take my place in the area I was assigned.

I thanked him for hearing me out, and he said something very profound He said, “Hey, if you are going to complain, do it to someone who can do something about it. Otherwise you’re just like anyone else.”  Those words have followed me through my career, and I have used that advice several times. If I am unhappy in my career or feel things are turning for the worse, I have gone to my boss, and pleased my case. Most of the time, they are surprised that someone would do this, but after working with me, they understand that I like to nip things in the bud.

I have noticed quite the opposite in most work centers. A shift schedule is changed, and people complain to each other.  Working conditions are altered and people complain to each other. This even happens in the customer to business relationship. A company increases its prices and customers call to complain, often to whomever answers the phone. Is there a good way to complain? Are complaints useful? Can you turn a complaint into something positive? The answer is of course, yes!

By following a consistent practice in managing complaints, you can be an agent of change and positive office culture. When making a complaint, remember what you hope to achieve: change. A complaint that only tears down, or seeks to insult, is only going to be classified as “whining”.  Most companies would have to form a line to hear every whiney complaint ever passed around, so don’t be surprised if your target is less than receptive.

Making Complaints

Rule 1: Never use personal or constant terms in a complaint or suggestion

For example, “Why didn’t you add more color options to this program?”  Do you see the presumption? The question assumes the author intended to leave colors out, rather than never considering the idea. There is no way to answer this question without being on the defensive. The author must now give reasons for things he did not intentionally do.

A better approach would be; “Could we have more color options in this on the next revision?” This suggests too things, one the color additions, and two, that a revision will take place. This allows the author to consider updating the program in a non-threatening way; it would also be received better.

Rule 2: You will take it personal, but don’t make it personal.

If you blow up at someone because they don’t like your new system, your latest program, or recent upgrade then you are showing them that you didn’t think much of it either. If it were truly great work, their complaint would seem obtuse or clueless. When Michelangelo painted the Sistine chapel, it was rumored that the Pope walked in and only commented on the nudity. If you have ever worked on something you considered a masterpiece and got minimal results like this, you can understand how the painter must have felt.

People don’t always ask you if you want their opinion. They can come across as insulting, cold, rude or even hostile. When you hear a complaint, try to remove yourself from the subject, even if it is you.

Receiving Complaints

Rule 1: Complaints assume a better way exists

A complaint assumes there is a better way. It may not suggest the better way but it assumes one exists. This can be a great tool for introspection, but often gets overlooked because we are too busy defending the original design or model in question.

If workers complain that the heating is poor, or that the air conditioning is too cold, it could be translated: I am hot, or I am cold. But there is a presumption by the worker that things could be changed. If someone said, “This new billing program runs too slow”. They are insinuating that it could or should be faster. Naturally no one wrote it to run slowly, but they may not have thought of ways to increase its speed in the design phase. This is an excellent way to turn a complaint into an action item.

Rule 2: Who should hear this?

IF you have worked for only a day in Information Technology, you will be aware of the phenomenon called linkage. You go to fix a computer and the employee there begins ranting about the company, and how out of date they are, or how ineffective things are, etc. You just came to replace the mouse, yet you end up listening as if you are the agent of change for everything in the company. I guess it’s natural that employees see an IT person as the agent of change. We do so many things that are change-centric. But that doesn’t mean we have to be the only ones. When listening to a problem or complaint that has nothing to do with your job, ask yourself,-who should hear this?

You could affirm that a problem does exist in accounting or personnel, and recommend the employee contact someone there. Quite often they will reply with no intention of doing so. This quickly resolves the seriousness of the complaint. That is; if it isn’t important enough to follow up on with the right people, then it isn’t worth your time to listen either.

Rule 3: Remove hurdles and frustration fades. Ignore them and it increases.

It only takes about 5 minutes for something or someone to drive you crazy; a gnat hovering around your face, a co-worker humming constantly, an overdosed perfume junky, wafting her scent in the air.

Frustration comes in many forms, but the kind bred by computers is chief in the workplace today. This puts IT pros in a bad light when the computer breaks down. An employee can take it personal and accuse you of doing something to his or her computer. They get angry and kick the box, or scream at the monitor. The poor keyboard usually gets pounded a few times, as if inflicting pain on the keys will show the computer you are serious and want your information back!

A hurdle is anything that blocks productivity, a Line Nazi system, or manager. A futile report to finish or a difficult procedure that takes up most of the day. These hurdles are often solvable by IT professionals, if they know how to listen for them. Not everything can be made easier with computers but it can certainly take the mundane tasks and automatically provide answers. By removing hurdles, you empower an employee to do their job without obstacles in the way. You also leave no excuses to that employee for not finishing things on time.

The opposite is also true, if you ignore complaints and fail to see the opportunities presented in them, you will increase the frustration level of workers and risk a walk out, rebellion, or apathy in job assignments.

Rule 4: Identify the problem not the symptom

Doctors ask a lot of questions, often these questions seem unrelated to the problem. The reason; they want to rule out other symptoms that may not be revealed in the initial complaint of poor health. When a computer technician is called out for repairs, they should practice the same methodology.

A complaint that a computer always runs slow, especially in the afternoon, could be revealing the true cause. Perhaps it’s multiple issues. Maybe they have a virus scanner running in the background and that affects the system speed. Perhaps they are running too many programs concurrently. Maybe the case is dirty and full of dust, creating more heat as the day goes on and eventually causing problems. However; failure to look at these possibilities or ask for more information when analyzing the system, can result in “over medication cures”, like reformatting a drive or replacing the system,

The problem is buried at the core, symptoms are on the exterior. Symptoms will appear first and are often more noticeable than the cause.  Learn to look below the symptoms! This is true not only of computer diagnosis, but in management as well.

The complaint department is an ironical term, but every company has one. Sometimes it’s the person next to you, or a friend from another section, but we all have people we go to when we feel things turning against us.  The higher you are in management, the less complaining you will hear-this might sound promising, but it is not. An executive is by nature removed from the front line workers. This is why they often come across as clueless to the “real” issues of a company. The only way to bridge the gap is to make yourself available to employees, to ask rather than wait to be told about problems. And most importantly; filter out the symptomatic complaints, and focus on the true problems. Then take action.  The only thing worse than not hearing a complaint, is ignoring one.

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