"Building bridges" conversations

It's exhausting to deal with rude customers all day. But how exhausting depends on how you approach emotional labour.

An alternative to surface acting is deep acting. Instead of putting on a mask, try to really feel the emotion. That way, the emotion comes out naturally.

In any job, you have moments when you fake an emotion. It's hard labour to smile and act nice all day long even though you don't feel like it.

The easiest way to cope is to tell yourself, "This is my job. I have to pretend to be this person in this role when I'm at work." That's sur...

Your mood will affect customers. But your mood will also affect your ability to solve problems.

• Reappraising - reframing the situation. When customers are rude, the best approach is to listen to them, because they are often rude because of an underlying reason. Take th...

We have to manage our emotions at work. However, we also manage other people's emotions. In service jobs, managing emotions is the job.

When you act badly, you're making someone else's task more difficult. That will spill over to affect the other customers that day. It may be the...

Research found that when we focus on the people who benefit from our work, it energises us. For example, firefighters and fundraisers are less likely to burn out when they see how their contribution helped others. Creating a positive outcome for customers makes the experience less negative.