One of the things about having to work with other people is their different personalities. Some as eternally optomistic, others are all business, others are fun-loving, and then there are those who rarely have a nice thing to say. There is nothing worse than only hearing complaints, actually it can be just down right draining!

Wouldn’t you just love to escape this? Would you like your business to be a “complaint free zone” and still be productive?

There is a way to create this type of environment with some persistence and patience in one step.

The next time a person comes to you with a complaint as them “How do you propose we fix it?”

You may be thinking that this is a passive-aggressive way to solve the issue but it’s not. What you are doing is getting people to start thinking about solutions before they complain. In other words get them to be proactive, you may be pleasantly surprised by the answers you get.

Now the first time you do this you will most likely get a “deer in the headlights” look. Just say “Sorry to catch you off guard with my question, why don’t you think about it and get back to me”. This will also put the problem and solution in their hands.

If their solution isn’t feasible, explain why and then ask for more options. The idea is that you are not “solving” or “answering” the complaint – they should. By having ownership in the solution, they will be the biggest advocate for the change they propose.

If their solution is feasible, congratulate them and see if they can implement. If not, whose assistance is needed. Again, make them responsible and accountable for the solution.

After some time has passed and you are consistent, word will get around and the conversations will be better. People will come to you with “a problem” and one or two “solutions”. How nice would that be?

Try it and share with us how it worked for you.