Stressful situations with clients on service desks
AJPA council is aware of a number of recent complaints from clients who made unreasonable demands of JPs on Service Desks, and then became angry or abusive when their demands were not met. We all aim to meet reasonable requests from clients, and it is important that we provide explanations and suggest alternatives for those situations where a JP cannot do what has been requested.
If you are involved in, or observe a situation where a client is angry or abusive, the priority is to keep yourself and your colleagues safe, by keeping calm and professional, and speaking quietly but firmly to de-escalate the situation.
We understand that such incidents are stressful and unpleasant but we would ask that you please take time, preferably immediately after the incident, to write down what happened, including as much detail as possible. AJPA recommends that JPs then discuss the incident with their Support Group Coordinator, and together decide whether any further action is required.