1

So for the last week or so one particular user has been pretty much PMS’ing at me everytime I go help them with their problem.

Earlier in the week we were having some time stamp issues with some of our software. She gets all grouchy with me from the get go when I ask her to troubleshoot for me like it is some sort of hassle for her. I had her troubleshoot primarily to prove a point that it wasn’t what she thought it was.

Now today we were having some issues with the very same software missing files and what not. I went around the office telling people to log out for the time being till we got it resolved. I get to her desk and she grouchily yells out “IM OUT”.

So tell me guys, if you encounter a grouchy user do you just walk away or do you ignore them for a few hours when they put in a ticket?

17 Spice ups
2

Try being extra nice. This will do two things for you; 1)the other uses will notice that you are trying very hard to deal with the user, politely and 2)It really annoys the user.

7 Spice ups
3

Become very monotone and show no emotion whatsoever. Usually works for me…but I’m simply antisocial.

4

As an introductory note, I’ll freely admit that my method sometimes just doesn’t work in a heavy corporate environment, but dammit it shoul****d.

My preference is to give them a little time, and then later on very explicitly call them on it. It’s a real line, because if you phrase it even slightly wrong you sound like you’re attacking them; done properly though, I find that an approach like this works really well, one on one:

“Hey, Laura? Earlier I really felt like I was under attack when I came over to help. Can we talk about it? I’d like to work this out and keep it all going smoothly.”

Reading this, yeah it’s corny putting it on paper. But basically, engage the person as an individual, and treat them like they’re a friend to you who sort of crossed a line - you want to stay friendly, solve the problem, and figure out what’s going on. I flat out refuse to work with complete a-holes without making the situation very clear. For the occasional coworker who is just irredeemable, I’ll absolutely work with them. The trick is that every once in a while, they get statements like, laughing Man, you know you’re a complete d-bag to work with, right?" or “Bob, you really don’t get to talk to me or anybody like that all the time, every day. Let’s tone that attitude down some.”

I avoid the F-bombs, they get a reminder of their d-baggery nature, and so far I haven’t come out the bad guy.

1 Spice up
5

I used to just be grouchy back, but that never got me anywhere, so I just try to be my best to say nice positive things or just not really speak at all.

6

Kill them with kindness and make them feel so guilty when they go home that night.

7

I’m too dispassionate to care. I out grouch them. :wink:

2 Spice ups
8

I agree with everyone that said be extra nice to them. most the time they will come back later and apologize for how they acted.

9

I usually just try to ignore the grouchiness and work on their problem…but then go home swearing at them to myself in the car the whole way.

2 Spice ups
10

Sometimes when a user puts 2 and 2 together and come up with 9, I often make what may be a mistake, and just plain and simple ask them how they made the correlation they have come up with. They almost always just stand there and look dumb. I stay silent and continue to stare at them until they feel unconfortable. It may not help much, but then neither does their attitude in the first place.

That said, I have known this method stop some users from ever doing it again. They don’t want to look stupid in that fashion more than once!

It doesn’t work with them all though.

11

A swift kick in the face usually does the trick.

5 Spice ups
12

Bite their ear

1 Spice up
13

JasonXXX wrote:

Try being extra nice. This will do two things for you; 1)the other uses will notice that you are trying very hard to deal with the user, politely and 2)It really annoys the user.

Oh I have, I usually just shrug it off, fix the problem, then leave. If it were a non employee I would probably counter it by asking if the hubby stopped giving them the lovings :smiley:

14

I try to kill them with kindness. I wouldn’t expect most of them to feel guilty that I was nice when they were bitchy (because they won’t realize they were being bitchy). If it goes on for an extended period of time I would try to do as Andrew says, engage them one on one and try to resolve whatever the issue is first, and then I would engage HR and let them know you feel you’re being singled out and treated unfairly. If you get no results from any of the above I say just chalk it up to that person having an issue. I used to work with a guy who was either a little dopey but very decent to work with (when he took his meds), or downright confrontational (when he didn’t). It got to the point where I would only work with him when I had to and avoid him at all others because you simply didn’t know which guy was showing up to work that day. If you simply cannot find a way to resolve the issue, then just do what you can to avoid them while at work.

Of course, you could just be being too sensitive about it :slight_smile:

15

Andrew7048 wrote:

As an introductory note, I’ll freely admit that my method sometimes just doesn’t work in a heavy corporate environment, but dammit it shoul****d.

My preference is to give them a little time, and then later on very explicitly call them on it. It’s a real line, because if you phrase it even slightly wrong you sound like you’re attacking them; done properly though, I find that an approach like this works really well, one on one:

“Hey, Laura? Earlier I really felt like I was under attack when I came over to help. Can we talk about it? I’d like to work this out and keep it all going smoothly.”

Reading this, yeah it’s corny putting it on paper. But basically, engage the person as an individual, and treat them like they’re a friend to you who sort of crossed a line - you want to stay friendly, solve the problem, and figure out what’s going on. I flat out refuse to work with complete a-holes without making the situation very clear. For the occasional coworker who is just irredeemable, I’ll absolutely work with them. The trick is that every once in a while, they get statements like, laughing Man, you know you’re a complete d-bag to work with, right?" or “Bob, you really don’t get to talk to me or anybody like that all the time, every day. Let’s tone that attitude down some.”

I avoid the F-bombs, they get a reminder of their d-baggery nature, and so far I haven’t come out the bad guy.

Good advice, but honestly I have worked with these people long enough to know that using any of those lines would get me a visit to the HR office. It would go along the lines of “don’t be a smart ass to the users”.

16

I just work the problem and ignore them. Then when I get home I unleash the anger onto my heavy bag.

Works wonders…

17

I ran into this issue just last week. A user of mine is just always grouchy… regardless of the day, month, year, season, whatever… They have been known to literally cuss out people including the boss/owner. They went off on me on about a week or so ago to the point where I thought I might knock them out!

Instead I went to HR and told them I had an issue with an employee that was causing me incredible stress etc…etc… and I am to the point where I don’t know what to do! They ended up putting the employee on “time out” for a week. Literally sent them home for a week. We haven’t spoken a word to each other since.

Apparently I wasn’t the first person to complain about this person, and perhaps you won’t be the 1st either. Its worth a shot, I mean the HR department’s job is to handle these type of issues. Unlike IT whose duties change at the drop of a hat.

18

Tell them to go [ content removed by Nic ] …

19

KennyF wrote:

I would probably counter it by asking if the hubby stopped giving them the lovings :smiley:

I said this to my supervisor once, he then proceeded to tell me to get the EFF out of his office.

(note: my supervisor and I were friends before I started working there)
(extra note: we are still friends now.)

20

I’ll just walk away.