Management Fundamentals 5th Edition by Robert Lussier

Exercise 22

Objective
To develop experience and skills in resolving complaints.
Skills
The primary skills developed through this exercise are:
1. Management skill - interpersonal (handling complaints requires people skills)
2. AACSB competency - communication abilities
3. Management function - leading (through working with others)
In this activity, you will role-play handling a complaint. To begin, think of a complaint-one you actually presented to a manager, one that was presented to you, one you heard about, or one you have made up. Write down details about the situation and the complaint, including any pertinent information that will help someone else play the role of the complainer (relationship to manager, knowledge level, years of employment, background, age, etc.).
The class will be divided into groups of three. One person in each group plays the role of the manager who must handle the complaint. This person gives his or her written complaint description to the person who is to present the complaint. The two ad-lib the situation. A third person observes the role-play and evaluates how the complaint is handled, writing comments on the observer form below. After each role-play, group members should discuss how effectively the complaint was handled, based on the observer's comments. After the discussion, group members switch roles and do another role-play, until each group member has had a chance to play each role.
Observer Form
Observe the role-play to determine whether the person playing the role of manager followed the steps below. Try to note something positive the person does at each step of the process as well as some ways the person might improve his or her handling of complaints. Be specific and descriptive in your comments, and be prepared to suggest alternative behaviors when discussing how the person might improve.
Step 1. How well did the manager listen? Was the manager open to the complaint? Did the manager try to talk the employee out of the complaint? Was the manager defensive? Did the manager get the full story without interruptions? Did the manager paraphrase the complaint?
Positive behavior: ______________________________________
______________________________________________________
Ways to improve: _______________________________________
______________________________________________________
Step 2. Did the manager ask the complainer to recommend a solution? How well did the manager react to the suggested solution? If the solution could not be used, did the manager explain why?
Positive behaviour:__________________________________
__________________________________________________
Ways to improve: ________________________________
________________________________________________
Step 3. Did the manager schedule time to get all the facts and/or make a decision? Was it a reasonable length of time? Did the manager set a specific time to get back to the person?
Positive behaviour: _________________________________
_________________________________________________
Ways to improve: _________________________________
________________________________________________
Step 4. Did the manager and the employee develop a plan?
Positive behaviour: ________________________________
________________________________________________
Ways to improve: ________________________________
_______________________________________________
Apply It
What did I learn from this experience? How will I use this knowledge in the future?
_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________