Complaints are sometimes insidious, concealed, creating a tense climate that is difficult to grasp, and hence difficult for the manager to intervene in. This is why, after having surveyed the state of affairs ("What am I hearing? From whom? How is it said? What does it provoke? ..."), we must formulate clearly what we observe and what the consequences are. A formal meeting allows the creation of a serious tone which marks the expectation that things will change.       

The manager is also a person! Like his co-workers, he needs to have a favorable work climate and he has the right to ask for it. Expressing his feelings, with delicacy but clarity, without accusing or blaming, legitimates the demand which will follow.       

The idea is not to silence the team but rather to ask for a selection of the complaints it formulates and to imagine a new way to communicate them. The point? That what is said is also heard, and creates a constructive dynamic of resolving problems. Multiple solutions are possible (a space or time to vent, a post-it board for "Likes" and "Dislikes", a gripe box...), which wind up creating a sense of shared involvement within the team!