De-escalation for the Design team
I’ve been thinking about de-escalation techniques.
I got my Bachelor’s in Social Work and for the time I spent working with a homeless population and people dealing with mental instabilities, these techniques were directly applicable. I moved from social work to bartending and found that I needed those techniques even more. I remember the first time I dealt with an angry intoxicated man twice my size. I kept hearing my college professor’s words echoing in my head, “Never stand between the exit and an agitated person.” And despite the reflex to make myself appear as large as possible as my adrenaline kicked in, another technique reminded me to relax my body language and soften my voice.
Now, I find myself in whiteboard-walled rooms working with teams of creative people and thinking, “What were those techniques again?”
De-escalation might sound intense for a room full of designers, but the more time I spend under tight deadlines, with tired people, the more I realize that we need these techniques just as much as social workers.
This is a list of de-escalation steps from the Western Journal for Emergency Medecine:
- Respect personal space
- Do not be provocative
- Establish verbal contact
- Be concise
- Identify wants and feelings
- Listen closely to what the patient is saying
- Agree or agree to disagree
- Lay down the law and set clear limits
- Offer choices and optimism
- Debrief the patient and staff
What could possibly be more a fitting application case than for a group of designers working against a deadline??
Every single one of these items can and should be directly applied to the team arena. Albeit there are some adjustments to the wording, these are all positive steps for good team dynamics.
Here’s the reality check: no person is an island. The Brockton Area Multi-Serves Inc (BAMSI) gives their care providers a de-escalation refresher that encourages them to think beyond the situation at hand. What factors in the environment, the individual, and the staff could be contributing to an escalating situation?
In the design setting this might break down to:
-Is this really about a design problem?
-Is this ignited by something someone on the team might have said/done earlier?
-Is the agitated individual projecting their personal life into the problem at hand?
Each of these areas can contribute to personal agitation which can escalate a small disagreement to straight up walls when trying to move forward as a team.
My favorite de-escalation advice, which comes from LICSW Eva Skolnik-Acker, states bluntly:
“There are two important concepts to keep in mind: 1. Reasoning logically with a very angry person is not possible. The first and only objective in de-escalation is to reduce the level of anger so that discussion becomes possible.”
Exactly. The point is not to see who’s right, but to reduce the level of anger or frustration so that you can actually have a conversation as a team.
The second concept of utmost importance is:
“2. De-escalation techniques do not come naturally. We are driven to fight, flight or freeze when confronted by a very angry person. However, in deescalation, we can do none of these. We must appear centered and calm. Therefore these techniques must be practiced before they are needed so that they can become “second nature.”
Now perhaps in our workplace, we tend to throw this advice out the window, because “Brenda, I’m not dealing with mentally unstable or violent individuals. It’s just a bunch of designers who want to do things their own way!”
True enough, but I think this dismissal can lead people to under-estimate how quickly a small, team disagreement can escalate to a complete project-blocker.
Back to our de-escalation list: point 2 is “Don’t be provocative.” Now, the journal spells this out as making sure your body language matches what you say. The goal is to demonstrate that you want to listen.
This is my favorite part:
“It is most important that the clinician’s body language be congruent with what he is saying. If not, the patient will sense that the clinician is insincere or even “faking it” and may become more agitated and angry.”
“Damn, Brenda,” is what you’re probably saying right now.
Because you know and I know that we’ve all resorted to sarcasm in tense situations. Sarcasm that verbally says, “I get what you’re saying” while your body language says, “but I still think you’re an idiot.”
Don’t do it. Don’t be provocative. Don’t be a jerk. Resist the dark side.
Further advice:
Take a de-escalation class. Read the materials listed below, be a team player, and thank a social worker.
Sources
http://www.bamsi.org/assets/De-Escalation-Techiques-STP-Revised-Feb-2011.pdf
Richmond, J. S., Berlin, J. S., Fishkind, A. B., Holloman, G. H., Zeller, S. L., Wilson, M. P., … Ng, A. T. (2012). Verbal De-escalation of the Agitated Patient: Consensus Statement of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry Project BETA De-escalation Workgroup. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 13(1), 17–25. http://doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2011.9.6864
Skolnik-Acker, Eva. “Verbal De-Escalation Techniques for Defusing or Talking Down an Explosive Situation.” (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.
http://ppsfba.weebly.com/uploads/2/5/0/7/25071730/verbal_de-escalation.pdf
