Business

Daily Buzz: Turn Office Complaints Into Positive Change

Work with employees to identify organizational problems and find solutions. Also: Airports around the country get a Nintendo infusion.

Are employees complaining about your organization? Don’t view the situation as a problem, but a chance to improve.

“Complaining is a strong indicator of where to focus change management efforts and indicates a level of buy-in that already exists,” writes Michael Tatonetti on Association Success. He says when you have a complainer, you have an employee who sees a problem, cares enough to voice it, and is open to a solution.

Instead of responding negatively to these individuals, hear them out, Tatonetti says. Create a healthy work environment where employees are comfortable expressing their concerns to leadership.

“To avoid a culture of whispering complaints that turn to silence when you walk in the room, you have to acknowledge and engage in the conversation without minimizing the feelings and experiences of those sharing,” Tatonetti says.

If you’re hearing valid complaints, work with the individuals who brought the issues to your attention. Ask them if they have solutions and empower them to share good ideas with others.

“By leaning into complaining and leveraging it with normal human nature, you can embrace the positives of a culture that is authentic and transparent instead of hiding from problems others see that might be a blind spot for you,” Tatonetti says.

Mario-Fueled Relaxation

We all know business travel is stressful, but a little entertainment can go a long way to making it bearable. Which makes a new offering from Nintendo a welcome respite for anyone with a layover.

The company this week announced a plan to offer temporary pop-up areas for its Nintendo Switch game consoles at some of the largest airports in the U.S. Among them: Washington’s Dulles International Airport, Chicago’s O’Hare, Dallas’ Love Field, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport—the latter near Nintendo of America’s home base of Redmond, Washington.

The Dallas pop-up is open as of today; the rest open February 17 and offer a game room through March 29.

Other Links of Note

Avoid Google’s “badge of shame.” CMSWire highlights the speed warning the company is planning to give slow websites in the coming weeks.

When chapters outsource work, there’s a danger of things going wrong. Billhighway breaks down how to avoid some of the biggest pitfalls.

What’s behind a poor customer service experience, personalities or policy? Entrepreneur suggests it could be both.

(vchal/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Michael Hickey

By Michael Hickey

Michael Hickey is a contributor to Associations Now. MORE

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