Page 9 - Door Supervision Training Booklet

Expectations
We all have expectations about what reactions we will get from other people in certain situations. These expectations can be positive or negative, and can be based of accurate views of those people, or on inaccurate, false expectations based on prejudice, stereotyping or discrimination.
Stereotyping is having a set of beliefs about groups in society which is based on insufficient and incorrect information, and which label people by how they look, dress, their occupation, class, gender or culture.
Prejudice is unfavourable opinions or feelings formed beforehand, without knowledge, thought or reason.
Discrimination is when we act on our prejudices to discriminate between groups of people.
If door supervisors try to categorise people because of their assumptions, then they may be caught off guard when those people don't react the way they are expected to.
Whenever door supervisors become involved in situations with other people they should: -
• Make sure that any assumptions they make about the people are based on knowledge and not on a stereotypical idea of what they are like
• Take note of what those people do and say, so that they can react accordingly
• Acknowledge that individuals may well have expectations of door supervisors as well.
Language
The way that door supervisors speak to people they come into contact with can either help or hinder them in their efforts to communicate their purpose.
You should speak confidently and politely to customers in a manner and in language that they will fully understand. If explaining a legal requirement to someone you should put it in plain speech so as not to confuse the customer with legal jargon, and should not try to use other jargon or phrases, which are exclusive to the job.
Do not use insulting terms or phrases to describe groups of people, ever to other supervisors. Some words exclude or undermine certain groups of people, reinforce stereotypes or carry negative undertones.
Encounters Entry
The way in which you enter an encounter or situation will make a lot of difference as to how the parties concerned will receive you, and then how the encounter will progress. The success or failure of the encounter will often depend on how much you know about the situation and how you start the encounter. Door supervisors will sometimes come across situations where they do not initially understand what is happening or why, so it is important that they first of all gather sufficient information upon which they can make a decision as to how to proceed. Asking simple questions such as, "What's the problem?" will usually be sufficient for one or more of the parties involved trying to explain what is going on.
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