Administrator. Scenario 8 of 13. Staying calm

The cancelled appointment

You are on the front desk. A visitor arrives for a 2pm appointment and you find it was cancelled yesterday. Nobody told her.

She has taken the afternoon off work to be here. She raises her voice: "This is ridiculous. Does anyone here know what they're doing?"

What is the best call?

Tell her she needs to calm down or you will not be able to help her.

Not the best call

"Calm down" almost never calms anyone. She has a real reason to be upset, and this tells her that her tone matters more to you than her wasted afternoon. It usually makes things louder.

Explain that cancellations are handled by another team, so it was not your mistake.

Not the best call

It may be true, but she did not ask whose fault it was. To her, you are the organisation. Defending yourself leaves her problem exactly where it was.

Let her finish, say you are sorry she was not told, then tell her what you can do now, such as finding the next appointment.

Good call

Being heard is what brings most people down. Saying sorry that she was not told is not admitting you did it. It is recognising what happened to her. Then you move to the thing she actually needs.

Go and fetch your manager straight away.

Could be better

If you ever feel unsafe, getting help is the right call. Here she is upset, not threatening. Leaving her at the desk unheard may make it worse. Listen first, and bring in your manager if you cannot fix it.

The principle

With an upset person: listen first, recognise what went wrong for them, then say what you can do. It is not about who was to blame.