[Publib] Management question: patrons and staff

[A B]

Hi to the List,

I have one of those "How do you manage" questions.

I see my role as a manager to bring patrons what they want in a
courteous and friendly fashion (I'm in a public library, btw) AND  to
support my staff in a variety of ways.

Sometimes these two goals are seemingly at odds, which leads to my
question for you:

If a patron is clearly upset with one of your staff members at a
public desk and you go over to intervene, do you:

1.  Calmly and politely ask the patron what the problem is, and try to
resolve it without even mentioning how the staff member may or may not
have "misbehaved?"  And then, after the patron is gone, calmly and
respectfully try to find out what happened by talking with the staff
member?

And then there's this scenario:

2. What if the patron clearly wants to make an issue of how he or she
was treated by the staff member?  Do you then say to the patron: "
please let me try to help you (fill in the blank:  resolve your fine,
get your book, get your article, etc.)?  And I will definitely
discuss the matter with the staff member."  ?  Then calmly and
respectfully try to find out what happened with the staff member,
after the patron is gone?

My thinking in case 2 is that you want the patron to know you take the
alleged staff misbehavior seriously (hence you say: "I will definitely
discuss this with the staff member"), but you don't want to embarrass
or humiliate the staff member by airing possible dirty laundry in
front of the patron (hence you discuss it later on, after the fact).

Any thoughts on what has worked for you, your philosophies in
situations like this, are most welcome.

Thanks,

AB