Create a Complaint-Free Culture at Work

Create a Complaint-Free Culture at Work

COMPLAINT (NOUN): THE EXPRESSION OF GRIEF, PAIN OR DISSATISFACTION.

Research shows that most people complain once a minute during a typical conversation. Complaining may feel good, however, it isn’t good for your health or your workplace. A Stanford University study found that engaging in complaining or listening to someone complain for 30 minutes or more can actually damage your brain. Chronic complaining to co-workers can come back to haunt you. It could ruin your reputation, labeling you as a negative person or as “not a team player.” As a result, you may make enemies which will only worsen your work experience and add to the decline of overall workplace culture.

Understanding the human connection and the real reason behind complaining can help you improve the culture of your workplace. Using Will Bowen’s G.R.I.P.E. technique gives insight to what lies beneath the complaint and can help you refocus a co-worker’s attention to solving the actual problem. Will Bowen, international bestselling author, world authority on complaining and founder of A Complaint-Free World, is the featured speaker at our 2022 Business Summit events in May and October. His G.R.I.P.E. technique and 21-Day Complaint-Free challenge has been recommended by many influential celebrities and media outlets including Oprah, Maya Angelou, Tim Ferris, Joe Vitale, Gary Zukov, The Wall Street Journal,NBC’s Today Show, the ABC Evening News and NPR. Will travels the world motivating businesses and organizations of every size to understand the causes and embrace the cures of complaining.

Will Bowen’s G.R.I.P.E. Technique

GET ATTENTION

Connecting with others is a basic human need. When someone complains to get attention, ask them “What’s going well with (whatever they’re complaining about)”?

REMOVE RESPONSIBILITY

People complain about the conditions surrounding a task as a way of getting off the hook. This type of complaint is excuse-making before even attempting to do something. With every complaint about the task, ask “If it were possible, how might you do it?”

INSPIRE ENVY

People complain about others not liking them in order to seem superior. Or we complain about events as a way of impressing people. When someone is trying to inspire envy, they want to be complimented and reassured. Compliment them for the opposite of whatever they’re complaining about.

POWER

People complain to build alliances with others who agree with them to increase their power. Refuse to get involved in the power struggle and put the problem back in the complainer's hands by saying, “It sounds like you and he (or she) have a lot to talk about.” You can offer to set up a meeting between the two parties

EXCUSE POOR PERFORMANCE

(past tense of Remove Responsibility) They have already failed and are complaining to justify what happened. In this case, the person has already messed up or not done something you’ve asked. Lower their defenses and help open them to opportunities for improvement by asking, “How do you plan to improve next time?”

Source: Excerpts from Will Bowen’s white paper “GRIPE - How to Identify and Stop Complaints”, https://www.willbowen.com

WANT TO CREATE A COMPLAINT-FREE CULTURE AT YOUR WORKPLACE?

LEARN MORE ABOUT WILL BOWEN AND REGISTER FOR THE BUSINESS SUMMIT.

www.nicc.edu/businesssummit