Communication Mistakes to Avoid

Question 1

What kind of people would a security officer have to communicate with?

Answer 1

People who are confused, angry, or upset.

Question 2

What is a standard part of a security officers job?

Answer 2

Communicating with the public.

Question 3

What feelings could communication mistakes invoke in the other party?

Answer 3

Person may feel slighted, disrespected, wronged, or defensive.

Question 4

How does the way you communicate affect a situation?

Answer 4

How you respond can mean the difference between a situation that ends quietly and quickly and one that escalates.

Question 5

Who are the two types of people that can be placed in a position of authority?

Answer 5

The authoritarian and Authoritative.

Question 6

What sort of things would you hear from an authoritarian security officer?

Answer 6

“Because I said so.”

“My way or the highway.”

“No discussion.”

“Just do what I say.”

Question 7

What does it mean to be Authoritative?

Answer 7

you engage in dialogue or negotiation if you will, you communicate, you listen, you find out what’s going on, and you empathize.

Question 8

What should you say instead of “Come here!”?

Answer 8

“excuse me, let’s have a chat. Could you step over here please sir.”

Question 9

What could you say instead of “hey, let me talk to you?” ?

Answer 9

“May I have a minute of your time to discuss this?”

“May we step aside and discuss this?”

Question 10

How should you begin any conversation?

Answer 10

introduce yourself and then politely engage in the discussion at hand.

Question 11

If asked for clarification what should you not say?

Answer 11

“You wouldn’t understand.”

Question 12

If you believe your message didn’t get across properly, what should you say?

Answer 12

“Let me see if I can explain this better.”

“I don’t think I’m explaining this right.”

place the burden on yourself. Let’s give people more credit. Let’s give people a little bit of respect. Let’s not assume that people wouldn’t understand things.

Question 13

What is the middle eastern proverb?

Answer 13

“you have said nothing until somebody understands it.’

Question 14

What should you always do if asked for?

Answer 14

Give a reason, even if its brief and even if you are in a hurry.

Question 15

What is an arbitrary and insensitive comment to make?

Answer 15

“Because those are the rules.”

You are treating people like children. Explain the reason for the rule. Give an explanation.

Question 16

What should be ready with when you hear “why?” ?

Answer 16

An explanation.

Question 17

What can you say instead of “None of your business”?

Answer 17

“The parties involved don’t want to divulge any information right now.”

Question 18

What should you say instead of “What do you want me to do about it !?” ?

Answer 18

“What kind of assistance were you seeking?”

your response should have an expression of curiosity and interest.

Question 19

What is your responsibility as a security officer?

Answer 19

customer service.

Question 20

Instead of saying “Calm down!”, what should you say?

Answer 20

“Its going to be alright. Talk to me.”

Question 21

Instead of saying “What is your problem?, what should you say?

Answer 21

“What’s the matter? May I help you?”

Their most immediate problem when you speak incorrectly is you.

Question 22

Which phrases should you avoid?

Answer 22

“You never -“
“You always -“

Question 23

To your coworker, instead of saying “ you always leave it to someone else to respond to customer assist calls”, what should you say?

Answer 23

“It seems that when I am on shift with you I have to attend to most of the customer calls in the parking lot.”

Question 24

To your coworker, instead of saying “you never complete your patrols in the parking lot”, what should you say?

Answer 24

“Often it seems you leave the parking deck patrol to other officers.”

Question 25

Instead of saying “I’m not going to tell you this again” what should you say?

Answer 25

“Let me say this a different way.”

Question 26

Instead of implied threats, what should you do?

Answer 26

create enforceable limits.

take time to explain.

Question 27

What should you do before making a decision?

Answer 27

Ask questions and gather all the information that you can.

Middle eastern proverb -> “A fool answers a matter before he’s heard it.”

Question 28

Instead of cutting someone off and saying “yeah yeah, I know what your talking about” what should you say?

Answer 28

Listen. Let them speak.

Question 29

What are the two recommendations when it seems a conversation isn’t going anywhere or the other party is being completely unreasonable?

Answer 29

Give them other options or decide that the debate is over. Call for assistance.

Question 30

After trying every peaceful way to diffuse a situation, what should a security officer do?

Answer 30

call dispatch for backup.

Question 31

Why do statements that start with “You never” or “You always” not work?

Answer 31

They imply that a person has done ( or not done ) something the same way each time.

They put the other person on the defensive.

They make the other person angry.

Question 32

When is it difficult to listen to people are saying to you?

Answer 32

when you cut them off.

Question 33

What is true about how most people follow rules?

Answer 33

Most people will follow rules as long as there is an explanation as to why.

Question 34

An angry customer at a hotel complains to the security officer that the woman behind the check-in counter was rude. What should the officer say to diffuse the situation?

Answer 34

“Tell me what happened.”