Corruption Matters - May 2018 | Issue 51
Tips for responding to challenging behaviour
The NSW Ombudsman is currently finalising the latest edition of the Managing Unreasonable Conduct by Complainants Practice Manual and the development of new guidance on restoring relationships with complainants. These companion publications will be available in the second half of 2018.
The NSW Ombudsman’s guidance on restoring relationships is aimed at helping complaint-handlers better understand the causes of conflict in a complaint process and how to manage them. It also looks at ways to try and restore or rebuild a working relationship between an agency and a complainant. This guidance is largely targeted at agencies providing essential services who have to maintain a relationship with the complainant. The following extract deals with possible ways of responding to frustration and aggression exhibited by a complainant.
Responding to frustration and aggression
The complaint-handling process can be a challenging and frustrating experience for everyone involved. While some people are able to respond calmly and respectfully to situations such as this, other people can become angry, upset, aggressive and, in some isolated cases, violent as a result. In some cases, these responses are clearly a result of what has happened, while in others, an extreme response can be a result of additional influences and factors
When a complainant begins to exhibit the initial signs of increasing frustration, it is important that you recognise this, and adjust your response to try and reduce their frustration and the level of conflict. When a complainant is aggressive and argumentative, the following very effective strategies can help.
- Use lots of repetition where you can. Focus on the next step in the process and keep restating key elements.
- Say “yes” and add on. “Yes” does not have to reflect agreement, it can simply be an acknowledgement of what the other person has said. Providing acknowledgement and adding on information maintains a consistent pace and tone of discussion that calms high-conflict discussions.
- Avoid using “but” by using “and” to lead into the second part of a sentence. While this may seem like a very small change, it can work very well. Avoiding words like “but” can help to maintain the flow of a conversation, as they tend to cut sentences in half. Complainants who are arguing about the issue will tend to ignore everything before the word “but” and complainants who believe they are right will ignore everything after the word “but”.
- Avoid “why” questions, as they can be perceived as confrontational. In most cases you can use “what” (for example, “What happened…?” and “Can you explain what caused you to…?”) or “how” (for example, “How come…?” and “Can you explain how…?”) questions. It may also be possible to get explanations using “when” or “where” questions.
- When the complainant gets louder or faster, deliberately slow down your pace and lower your voice. This often forces the other person to do the same. Humans naturally mirror each other’s interactions; skilled practitioners are able to use this approach to deliberately set the tone, pace and volume of difficult discussions.