Robert Sayles: Dealing with troublemakers - psychology not physicality

The Publican ran a poll earlier this week asking if any of us had been subjected to violence at work. This subject is of particular interest to me as it is an aspect of the trade that appears to get very little coverage.

We all know the type that get the alarm bells ringing; bagfuls of attitude, no smile, no obvious emotions, just a mask that emanates nothing but hostility. They appear to be waiting for little more than someone to say or do the wrong thing so that they can do what they do best, initiate a problem out of nothing.

The minute they walk in, a day that has, up until this point, been going well suddenly looks a lot less promising as you realise that at some point in the not too distant future you are likely to have a problem on your hands. You find yourself conjuring up likely scenarios in your mind, many of which unnervingly seem to contain graphic images of violence and bloodshed.

I'm sure that for many of you conflict is not issue, for others, myself included; it is unfortunately a fairly regular occurrence. My pub is located in Birmingham city centre and the one thing I have learned to accept is, that in locations such as this, literally anything could walk through the door and unfortunately, it frequently does.

Last week there was a bit of a kerfuffle in the bar. Glasses and chairs were hurled and obscenities exchanged all because one individual took exception to being asked to prove he was old enough to legally consume alcohol. Needless to say, incidents such as this spoil your day, impact negatively upon trade and can be stressful for all concerned.

Over time you become more competent in dealing with potential troublemakers, which is probably just as well considering my performance the first time I was required to deal with an altercation.

The protagonist was six foot three with a frame that would guarantee him the role of leading primate in 'Gorillas in the Mist'. As it turned out, negotiation was not a strategy he was too inclined to embrace as I was soon to discover.

It began well enough; "May I have a word?" I enquired. From this point on though negotiations did not proceed quite as I had envisaged as the said gentleman picked me up, lifted me above his head and hurled me through the air as if I were nothing more than a bag of peanuts.

During the course of my brief flight across the length of trading area I had time to reflect that, on this particular occasion at least, things were not proceeding quite as planned and that some refinement to my approach might be necessary. This conclusion was overwhelmingly and painfully confirmed by the bone crunching impact I felt as my body crashed into the hardwood doors at the far end of the room.

Unfortunately in city centre pubs problems of this nature can be a frequent occurrence. Sometimes things can "kick off" over the most trivial of incidents and in attempting to deal with them you realise that you are very much alone. (That said a couple of the lads are quite amenable to taking the odd troublemaker outside for a bit of ....err....how shall I put it?... 'counselling').

Dealing with troublemakers is much more about psychology and much less about physicality which is probably just as well given that I am five foot eight and weigh a shade over one hundred and fifty pounds. With this in mind I have outlined a few strategies below which seem to work well for me. I am sure you have some of your own which you find equally effective.

Having the respect of customers makes it easier to impose authority when required and this comes from building up a good relationship with customers. Greeting customers, remembering their names, passing time with them in conversation, bidding them goodnight at closing time are all essential strategies in developing this relationship. This approach should be applicable to all customers and not be dependent upon personal preferences or prejudices.

Whilst the sociable nature of the job requires a degree of involvement with customers, some distance needs to be maintained, to show that there is a line that cannot be crossed. Trying to be 'one of the lads' can result in problems when you need to adopt a more formal role and constrain the behaviour of certain customers.

Mobility is an important part of the monitoring process. When the pub is busy, activities such as collecting glasses allow you to see what customers are doing and saying without being too obtrusive and without appearing to spy. Early signs of potential trouble can be 'nipped in the bud' with an appropriate intervention such as a humorous remark or a quiet word.

A key part of maintaining control is to make sure that a customer does not lose face in front of other people. A large proportion of pub violence occurs because a customer wants to maintain his reputation in front of his friends and associates.

Being seen as 'hard' by peers is a means of winning status and prestige, particularly amongst young males. Consequently allowing the potential troublemaker the opportunity to save face is important; anything you do which belittles their status is likely to inflame the situation even further. The most effective strategy is to attempt to deal with them on a one-to-one basis, well away from their peers. In this way the 'audience effect' is minimised and there is less prospect of continued aggression.

There is often a direct correlation between the amount of conflict experienced in a given pub and the length of time a tenant has been there. Those who have been in charge for less than 12 months frequently experience far greater problems than those who have been there for longer periods. There are two primary reasons for this:

Firstly, when a new tenant takes over a pub there is a tendency for those who were previously barred to return and, in many cases, repeat the kinds of behaviour for which they were barred in the first place.

Secondly, as I have already indicated, a tenant needs to build up the respect of his customers before he is able to deal effectively with any conflicts which occur, a process which inevitably takes time.

Running a pub enables you to see firsthand the good as well as the bad and I am conscious of the fact that this experience has probably given me a slightly distorted view of the way people in general behave. That said; I find myself reflecting more and more on what it would be like to run a pub in a "nice" area, where the threat of violence does not constantly hang in the air.

My wife frequently says to me "Robert, you've just got to accept that this is not a normal pub." What is a normal pub? I'd love to know.