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Controlling a Crowd in a place of Business
By Jana M. Kemp
People standing in line to buy groceries. Movie-goers waiting to buy tickets. Concert or event attendees milling about. Customers wondering where restrooms are for themselves or for their children. Employees in the company cafeteria locating and buying their lunches.
Crowds can appear in the most unusual places. During a recent Kevlar Management, Lessons from the Force segment on Momentum(tm), Officer Doug Schoenborn shared crowd control techniques that can be used in event management situations and in our places of business.
1. Lines and queues: Nothing frustrates a friendly crowd of customers or employees more than sensing that following the rules is fruitless. To avoid flaring tempers, help people feel that the process is both orderly and fair.
2. Signage: State where restrooms are located. Let people know where first-aid can be found. Write everything so that a child can understand information, find locations and resources. We too often assume people know as much as we do about our places of business.
3. Employee training: Do employees know how to handle an irate customer? Properly preparing employees to handle the "worst case scenario" will often guarantee they are prepared to handle mild situations of conflict. Insure your peace of mind by giving employees resources and guidelines - to help in both practiced "what if" situations and in the real every day situations that arise. Of course before employee training takes place, company and event policies about how to handle various situations need to be in place so that consistent service delivery and problem solving can take place.
4. Communication skills: How information is relayed will leave a lasting impression on customers, employees, and event participants. It doesn't matter how good the food is, if the waiter is rude you won't go back to that restaurant. Focus on providing information and directions in a manner that decreases stress levels and adds to the pleasure of doing business with you.
5. Customer Service policies: Police officers constantly remind themselves that citizens are the priority and that meeting the public's needs and protecting their safety come first. Even major inconveniences (traffic delays, detours, back-ordered items) can be forgiven when people know that it is in their best interest and safety or that the problem will be resolved quickly. If customers can see and feel that they are important in the eyes of the business, they are much more flexible when glitches or inconveniences arise.
6. Presence: Groups and crowds often become unruly and violent when they perceive that peace and order have been replaced by a lack of presence and attention on the part of responding parties. The most common form of keeping order and law enforcement by police is to maintain a commanding presence. Just being visible (in person, with signage, employee training, and having customer service policies) often gives groups and large crowds the perception that order is being maintained and that fairness is prevailing.
Take a look at your place of business. Are you creating crowds? Or are you guiding and serving customers and employees?
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Jana M. Kemp is an internationally recognized speaker, author and workshop provider on the subjects of improving day-to-day business activities. Jana hosts Momentum(tm) every Saturday at 9:00 a.m. on KBOI 670am. Reach Jana via her website www.janakemp.com
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