How to avoid confrontation, but still get what you want [Video]

I recently went through the five stages of grief while on a two hour call with a phone company. The most ineffective stage was anger. But it’s there, lying dormant until a colleague slacks off while you work through lunch or when a customer calls in attack mode.

Here are some tried and true steps to help you take the higher ground and actually achieve something:

Let it play

Sometimes people just want to dump and the best thing for it is to let them go through their spiel. Trust me, if they’ve been waiting on hold, they know exactly what they want to say and nothing will stop them saying it. Let them go through their bit without interrupting (as that will just make the exchange longer) and then ask them what they think will create a better situation for everyone.

Pause

A break enables you to both cool off, or even realise …