CRM principles for business
- Startle Management: Startle is a natural response to unexpected or emotionally charged events. In the workplace, these events can include receiving an angry email or being blamed for something in a meeting. Startle triggers an emotional reaction, which can cloud your judgment and hinder rational thinking. Managing startle reactions is essential to maintaining professional relationships and ensuring effective communication.
- Structured Response: Developing a structured response involves creating a process or routine beforehand to handle emotionally charged situations. This process helps you react calmly and thoughtfully in challenging situations, avoiding negative outcomes, and maintaining a positive atmosphere at work.
Applying these CRM principles to your workplace
Let’s consider a practical example of how to apply CRM principles when faced with an angry email from a colleague, with the board of directors in the cc:
Step 1: Give yourself time to calm down
- Recognize that you cannot think rationally when in an emotional state. Take a short walk or engage in another activity that helps you regain composure.
Step 2: Write a reply – but (very important!) don’t send it
- Organize your thoughts and address the concerns raised in the email. This will provide valuable input for your conversation.
Step 3: Make an appointment or call the sender
- Schedule a meeting or call for the next day when you are calmer.
- Prepare open-ended questions to gain a better understanding of the sender’s concerns.
Step 4: Start the conversation
- Acknowledge the sender’s complaint or frustration.
- Work together to propose and agree on actions to be taken.
Step 5: Rewrite the reply
- You will want to rewrite the reply – now you read it a day later (trust me) – and send it (to all who were addressed in the original mail).
- Thank the sender for the constructive conversation.
- List the actions agreed upon during the discussion.
Conclusion
By incorporating these CRM principles into our professional lives, we can improve our ability to manage emotional situations and enhance workplace communication. By implementing a structured response to startle, you can better understand and address the emotional triggers that you may encounter in your day-to-day work. This structured response will allow you to react rationally in challenging situations, helping you foster a more productive, collaborative, and positive work environment.
In a future article, I will discuss how you can put these principles to work in a more ‘live’ setting, such as when you are being startled by an accusation in a face-to-face meeting.
