Listening Later: Can Some Complaints Really Wait?

     You come in early to generate a report for your local fire board. One of your crews returning from a call sees your light on and stops by for a visit. They've been up all night, and they get off duty in two hours. There's no point in going back to bed again, so they figure they'll just unload a shift's worth of frustrations on you. They're really tired, they're a little cranky, and hey, listening is your job.

     You try hard to keep yourself available to your peeps, but you know that, under the circumstances, you're not going to hear much constructive input from this crew. On the other hand, you and your agency are both going to look bad if that report is not ready in time for tonight's meeting, and your schedule for the day already looks like a pretzel. Don't they know you're here early on your own dime?

     Answers (that's plural on purpose): I once had a great boss named Philip Ayres. His employees all knew (because he told them so on their first day of work and often thereafter) that when his office door was open, anybody could walk in and sit down. And he always made sure the door was open whenever it could be. The employees also knew that when Phil's door was closed, it meant either that he wasn't there or that he wasn't available. Phil did a pretty good job of explaining why he might not be available-including personnel issues, confidential discussions with clients or family matters.

     When people understand that stuff in advance, it makes much more sense to them. But they don't understand it by magic. You need to tell them.

     That was one answer. A second has to do with how you break the news to people that you don't have time to listen to them right then. It should always start with a situational assessment on your part-a determination of whether their concerns require your immediate attention. If so, and if you don't have the luxury of delegating the matter, you may need to triage something out of your schedule. You're answerable to the fire board, but even they can wait for some things. (Your people need to understand that, too.)

     If the crew's concerns have nothing to do with their safety or some other critical matter, consider a third answer. Maybe they could talk to you another time, like after they've had a good night's sleep. In a situation like that, the truth works just fine. Tell them you really care about what's bothering them, but you need to listen at another time. Maybe you could meet over lunch on their next shift, but commit to a specific time that will work for them. Then, follow through. If you decide on lunch, offer to buy. That's plain old Maslow, for one thing; for another, you're more likely to be dealing with rational beings who can focus on the specifics of one or more problems rather than how rotten they feel after being up all night.

     A fourth answer has to do with what happens when one of your people gets in trouble. In that case, the office door should be closed.

     You'll need to be somewhere else.

Thom Dick has been involved in EMS for 35 years, 23 of them as a full-time EMT and paramedic in San Diego County. He is currently the quality care coordinator for Platte Valley Ambulance Service, a community-owned, hospital-based 9-1-1 provider in Brighton, CO. Contact him at boxcar414@aol.com.