One of the simplest ways of reducing tension in a difficult conversation is to control the tone with a couple of well-placed sentences which will appeal to the persons natural desire to be heard and understood. Saying to an angry person "I can hear this is important to you" or to a sad person "this must be difficult for you" will provide instant empathy and enable you to get to the point of the conversation much sooner. Adding in "please take your time" or "I'm listening" will counter-intuitively speed up the conversation as a rapport is built and the person becomes much calmer.
Sleep - Who Needs It?
We are told that sleep is important for us, but is it really that important? The short answer is "yes". Sleep allows our brain to rest and recover from the 70,000 thoughts that we have each day. Without at least 6 hours of restful sleep we cannot function at our best.
Getting to sleep can be difficult when we have had a busy day. If you have been stretched during the day, try to get some exercise at least three hours before bedtime. A 30-minute walk is enough. This will push oxygenated blood through your body and will clear your brain.
There are many reasons why we can't sleep, the brain is too active, consumed too much food or alcohol, or perhaps worrying that we won't get enough sleep! A good technique to get to sleep is to think about absolutely nothing, often easier said than done. Another way is to think about a place that you love to visit, a beach, a favourite park, a country walk. Keep focussing on that one place and when those pesky thoughts enter your head just let them go and return to your 'happy' place. By distracting the brain in this way, it will relax and you will soon be asleep.
Holistic Approach to Support Consultants
Few people outside of a contact centre, front desk, or a sales floor understand the pressure customer service consultants face on a daily basis. From the angry to the sad, the quiet to the bad, consultants handle them all. As an example, I heard of a senior manager at a large corporation question why they required OSH policies for their contact centre staff as there was nothing to fall over or bang into!
Those of us that are in the customer service industry know the pressure consultants face. Dealing with difficult callers, striving to reduce their average handling times, attempting to meet their monthly performance measures, assisting junior staff, and the myriad of other pressures.
Building personal resilience is just one way of supporting your staff. Praise, professional development and external opportunities are other ways. Taking a holistic approach to support your customer service consultants will result in professional practices, engaged staff, minimal stress and a great customer journey. The rewards will be boundless.
Managing Change
There is nothing more certain in life than death and taxes the often-used saying espoused. Today we can add to that, "and change". Technology is the greatest contributor to change. We have gone from posting letters, to sending faxes, to emails, to texts, to tweets, to photos, etc. When previously we would meet and talk we now can phone from anywhere in the world or simply send a text message.
Our workplace has also changed dramatically. Technological advancements require us to learn new skills, companies need to find different ways of operating, organisations have to restructure to compete.
We have three options in dealing with change; we can refuse to participate and resist the change, educate ourselves as much as possible and hope that change won't impact on us too much, or we can embrace change and see it as an opportunity to increase our skills and be at the forefront.
The latter option is the most effective way of dealing with change, seeing it as an adventure and a challenge, a chance to prove to yourself that you have what it takes to be at the leading edge of change. The advantages are endless - increase your skills, keep your mind active, increase your productivity, and become valuable to your company.
Resisting change will only add to your stress levels as you become redundant.
I Understand!
How often have you heard someone say to you "I understand"? Perhaps you are someone who uses this as a way to establish a rapport with another. Unfortunately this short phrase has the opposite effect, it destroys rapport.
Each of us is very different - we see, feel, hear, and process things in varying ways. This is due to our thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, emotional awareness, adaptability, etc., etc. Additionally, we never know what else is influencing the person we are speaking with. Our personal life has a direct impact on our emotions and again for each of us this is different.
Try to avoid using this phrase, instead replace it with an open question to allow the other person to explain how they are feeling and what they are going through. "How are you coping", "that must be hard for you", and "I'm listening" are all valuable replacements to "I understand".