rolling ball · created date: 8/25/2008 12:52:22 pm

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Module 5: Managing Stressed People

Copyright © Raymond Karsan Associates. All rights reserved.

Role Play Exercise

In this role play session, you will have a conversation with an upset person, and have an opportunity to use your knowledge of communication styles and handling stressed people. In each round, Manager 1 must handle an upset person. In Rounds 1 and 2, the upset person is a manager; in Round 3, the upset person is a customer.

Role Play Sequence

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3

A

B

C

Manager 1

Upset Manager

Observer

Observer

Manager 1

Upset Manager

Upset Customer

Observer

Manager 1

Instructions

1. Prepare

Observer Manager 1 Upset Person

Read the Manager Read the Manager Read the Upset Person Preparation Sheet and Preparation Sheet for Preparation Sheet for the Upset Person the round you are in. the round you are in. Preparation Sheet for Decide what style you the round you are in. will portray. Refer to

the Upset Person Role Play Characteristics sheet for guidelines.

2. Conduct Observe the role play; Play the Manager role Play the role of the Role Play keep time; and use the

Observer Checklist to take notes.

according to the guidelines. Feel free to invent details as you need to.

upset person according to the guidelines. Feel free to invent details as you need to.

~. Evaluation/ a. Ask the Manager to Follow the Observer's Follow the Observer's Feedback self-evaluate, using

the Observer Checklist as a guide.

b. Ask the upset person to add feedback to the Manager.

c. Provide your own insights.

lead in self-evaluating and getting feedback from your partners.

lead in providing feedback to the Manager.

Switch roles and repeat. Switch roles and repeat. Switch roles and repeat.

The following page provides useful information for playing the role of the upset person according to communication styles.

Module 5: Managing Stressed People 5-16 Copyright © Raymond Karsan Associates. All rights reserved. MEISGEN

Upset Person Role Play Characteristics (all rounds) ? Controlling Style Advocating Style

Tendencies Tendencies • You're interested in problem resolution, • You're intuitive.

not in the other person. • You like to try unique solutions, fresh • You hide your thoughts. approaches. • You tend to be critical, distrustful and • You're enthusiastic and responsive.

impatient. • When upset, demand prompt action. • You might pretend to have greater Needs

expertise than you actually do. • RECOGNITION.• When upset, demand results. • To emphasize concepts rather than the

Needs nitty gritty. • ACHIEVEMENT. • To gain visibility. • To increase your control and influence. Turn-offs • To be complimented on your achievements.

• Too many facts and details. Turn-offs • Too much logic • Arguing. • People who ignore your opinions. • Any challenge to your authority.

• Unpreparedness.

Analyzing Style Facilitating Style Tendencies Tendencies • You provide little input, forcing the other • You like the attention of the other person.

person to pry guidance out of you. • You're easily influenced. • You're reserved and controlled. • You may withhold important information • You support the status quo. if you feel it will cause the other person a

problem.• You "know your stuff" technically. • When upset, demand an apology.• When upset, demand an explanation.

Needs Needs • CORRECTNESS, knowledge, security. • HARMONY. • To avoid risks. • To make things easier for everyone. • To work with well-defined alternatives. • To be held in high regard. • To have employees with superior • To maintain warm personal relationships.

technical knowledge. Turn-offs Turn-offs • People who ignore your sociability. • Over-confidence. • Insincerity. • People who don't know what they're • An uncaring attitude.

talking about. • Being put on the spot. • Lack of attention to detail. • Disruption of the status quo. • Taking chances.

Module 5: Managing Stressed People 5-17 Copyright © Raymond Karsan Associates. All rights reserved. MEISGEN

Round One: Manager 1 Preparation Sheet

You manage a group who provides internal support. Your charter, given you directly by upper management, is to run a cost-effective work group.

The work volume has increased dramatically recently. Your employees are overworked and backlogged. They have enough trouble meeting the routine demands on your work group, let alone handling special requests.

Still, certain other work groups persist in calling for special, one-time, "urgent" attention rather than going through normal channels. As a result, you know some of your employees react impatiently to special requests. You do your best to make sure legitimate requests are honored, but you feel many of the requests are not necessary and only serve to increase the already burdensome load your employees have to carry.

The other manager has called to ask for a few minutes of your time. You have no idea what it's about.

Use the essential communication skills and pay attention to how the other manager behaves. Can you respond according to his or her communication style?

Module 5: Managing Stressed People Copyright © Raymond Karsan Associates. All rights reserved. MEISGEN

5-18

Round One: Upset Manager Preparation Sheet

You manage a group who provides service directly to end users. Your charter, given you directly by upper management, is to do whatever it takes to move more products. As a result, your employees frequently get involved in one-of-a-kind interventions on behalf of the end user.

One of your employees was recently working on saving a particularly important account, and a significant order stood in the balance. Your employee went to Manager l's work group and requested special assistance on behalf of the customer. The response from the other employee was rude, and the request was put at the bottom of a large in-basket. Your employee carne to you with the story, and you got very upset. You called Manager 1 and asked for a few minutes.

The way you're feeling, this is the last time Manager l's work group is going to interfere with your clear charter to provide end-user satisfaction. You know they have a lot to do over there, but in your opinion they are inefficient. In any case, a situation like this one should clearly take precedence over routine work.

You are about to enter Manager l's office. You're close to the boiling point as you enter. After the pleasantries, you will say something like, "What does it take to get decent service around here?"

How to play your role

Pick a communication style that is comfortable to you. Refer to the chart on page 5-17 for hints on how to portray the style. Allow yourself to get upset, staying consistent with the style you are portraying. Manager 1 will need to use all the communication skills to cool you down and work out a solution to your satisfaction.

If you are asked a question about something you did not anticipate, invent more details on the spot. Remember that the focus of the role play is on the communication skills used in handling stressed people-not on any technical details of the problem.


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Round One Evaluation Checklist

Manager 1

Did Manager 1: Yes Comments/Examples

Handling Stressed People

• Respond to other person's communication style? D What style?

• Stay calm? D • Cool upset person down effectively? D • Isolate the problem? D • Fix the problem? D • Fix upset person? D • Confirm upset person's satisfaction? D

Input

• Pay attention to both words and tone of voice? D • Notice all important details? D • Let upset person know he/she was listening? D

Process

• Root out assumptions? D _ • Organize sequences of questions well? D _ • Keep track of what had already been said? D _ • Use information to arrive at a good solution? D _

Output

• Express empathy? D • Ask broad questions to get upset person talking? D • Ask specific questions to focus upset person? D • Present explanations clearly? D

Check

• Check his/her own understanding? D • Check for the other person's understanding? D • Check for agreement? D


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Round Two: Manager 1 Preparation Sheet

You manage a group of people who provide service directly to end users. You pride yourself on the fact that your work group puts in 150% effort to support their customers.

You frequently wish that the rest of your organization (particularly the other manager's operation) displayed the same dedication to customer service. You find that you often have to intervene personally to support your employees.

For example, a customer recently required a part, and one of your employees tried to get the part delivered. The person in the other work group insisted that the part was not available, not even in the country. This caused great frustration, and finally you personally went over to the other area, found the supposedly unavailable part, and watched while it was boxed and shipped.

The other manager is the head of the work group that you see as such a bottleneck. You wish they would be more cooperative. Now you have received a call from the other manager indicating that he or she is upset with you. The other manager is on the way to your office right now.

Use the essential communication skills and pay attention to how the other manager behaves. Can you respond according to his or her communication style?


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Round Two: Upset Manager Preparation Sheet

You manage a logisticslinventory control operation. The work load is (as always) slightly more than your employees can handle comfortably.

Manager 1 is in charge of an operation that provides service directly to end users. What really irritates you is that sometimes this group does not go through normal channels to achieve their objectives. Just yesterday, you learned that Manager 1 personally came over to your operation, went through boxes and shelves as if he or she owned the place, and took a part to satisfy a customer request.

You are feeling quite annoyed about this. You don't want this manager meddling in your operation, stepping around normal channels, going behind your back. If any other manager has a problem with your operation, it should be discussed openly. You have just called Manager 1 to say you're on your way over to his or her office.


Pick a communication style that is comfortable to you. Refer to the chart on page 5-17 for hints on how to portray the style. Allow yourself to get upset, staying consistent with the style you are portraying. Manager 1 will need to use all the communication skills to cool you down and work out a solution to your satisfaction.



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Round Three: Manager 1 Preparation Sheet

You manage a field service organization. One of your people has been called repeatedly to service a large installation that has been plagued by intermittent problems. The field service technician has tried several different solutions, none of which apparently fixed the problem. This morning, another service call is taking place.

The account in question is very important to your company. You are about to receive a phone call from the customer.

Use the essential communication skills and pay attention to how the customer behaves. Can you respond according to his or her communication style?


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Round Three: Upset Customer Preparation Sheet

You are a customer who has been getting the runaround.

Your company has made a major investment in equipment and systems manufactured by your role play partner's organization. You have been instrumental in making those purchasing decisions, and a large factor in your decisions has been the promise of excellent service. Now a series of events has got you seriously upset:

• Intermittent problems have plagued the installation. Each time, the field service technician has assured you the problem was fixed. Each time, the problem has returned. The department's productivity is seriously hampered by this problem.

• The field service technician does not have sufficient spare parts with him when he comes.

• Parts that have been ordered have been delivered incorrectly-you have documentation of one delivery to the wrong address, one with the wrong part in the box, and one where the part arrived broken.

• You just got an invoice for services never received.

• The field service technician was just here to fix the intermittent problem again, and he was unsuccessful; this time, he shrugged and said liThe system is unpredictable; you're just going to have to live with it. II

You are not usually a complainer, but that was the last straw. You got the technician's manager's number and are calling the manager now. You don't know exactly what you want the manager to do about all these problems, but you certainly want to see some evidence that things are going to change.


Pick a communication style that is comfortable to you. Refer to the chart on page 5-17 for hints on how to portray the style. Allow yourself to get upset, staying consistent with the style you are portraying. Manager 1 will need to use all the communication skills to cool you down and work out a solution to your sa tisfaction.



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Round Three Evaluation Checklist

Manager 1

Did Manager 1: Yes Comments/Examples

Handling Stressed People

• Respond to other person's communication style? D What style?

• Stay calm? D • Cool upset person down effectively? D • Isolate the problem? D • Fix the problem? D • Fix upset person? D • Confirm upset person's satisfaction? D

Input

• Pay attention to both words and tone of voice? D • Notice all important details? D • Let upset person know he/she was listening? D

Process

• Root out assumptions? D _ • Organize sequences of questions well? D • Keep track of what had already been said? D _ • Use information to arrive at a good solution? D

Output

• Express empathy? D • Ask broad questions to get upset person talking? D • Ask specific questions to focus upset person? D • Present explanations clearly? D

Check

• Check his/her own understanding? D • Check for the other person's understanding? D • Check for agreement? D


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Module 5 Innovation Sheet

Use the space here to capture critical information about what you've just experienced. Focus on ideas related to the change process your organization is undergoing and on how you can enhance quality service. You'll corne back to this at the end of the program.

Based on the topics discussed in this module:

What are we doing right?

What's happening that shouldn't be?

What's not happening that should be?

What things need changing to improve customer service?

What action items can you take within your own organization?


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rolling ball · created date: 8/25/2008 12:52:22 pm

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