Handling a complainer – Interactive

Working with complainers can be really draining. In this course, psychology expert Peter Quarry, provides practical tips for handling complainers which include acknowledging their concerns and offering positive suggestions, and if that fails, a strategy that may surprise you.

Showing empathy and putting forward positive solutions is the best way to manage most complainers. However, if they persist, and especially if you work with them, they are best ignored as what they really seek is attention. When you don’t react, there’s no payoff.

Learning Objectives

• Apply some effective methods for handling complainers
• Acknowledge their concern
• Demonstrate empathy
• Outline positive suggestions and follow up with actions
• Change your approach if complaints persist – ignore the complainer
• Don’t reward chronic complainers with attention