​The scene is a common one these days. Lines of people waiting to pay in a restaurant, retail establishment, or grocery store. Tempers flare. Customers yell at staff and wonder why there’s only one person checking people out. Your staff thinks, “Who needs this?” and they’re not wrong. They feel overworked and underappreciated. Customers are demanding and loud. Customers vow not to return. It makes for a bad situation for everyone.
 
So what can you do to ensure it doesn’t happen in your business?
 
Dealing with angry people during a staffing shortage is not easy, especially since one problem creates the other. People are angry because they have to wait. People have to wait because you are short staffed. No one wants to work in an environment filled with angry people.
 
Here are some things you can do to diffuse the situation.

​The next couple of months will be telling ones. We’re not saying a lockdown is inevitable, but a lot of communities have spent the past week or so escalating their precautionary levels and this article will give you some advice for overcoming slower business times with a potential shelter in place order.

Whether you're dealing with a conflict at home, with your neighbors, or at your place of business, it can be easy to become bogged down in old ways of working through problems.
Jay Baer is the author of five New York Times bestseller books and President of the global consulting firm Convince & Convert, and he's made a career out of helping companies learn how to deliver exceptional customer service - even in the face of a crisis.