29/05/2022
The BIFF method by Bill Eddy is a great way to maintain in control of the situation when someone communicates with a lot of hostility or emotion usually in written form.
Messages like this are triggering and often cause an urge to respond defensive or counter with the emotions it causes for the receiver of this uncalled for intensity.
How ever this usually only adds fuel to the fire and it's a great quality to be able to difuse the situation by giving a clear but firm response and take the highway by maintaining a calm and friendly posture.
That is what the BIFF method provides, a framework to assess your response to hostility.
Is your response... BIFF?
Brief: Keep it short, typically a paragraph. This is even when the comment youโre responding to goes on for many paragraphs or pages. This leaves less for the other person to react to and is often sufficient to get your main point. A short reply that only addresses what needs adressing. No biting into everything opted.
Informative: Give some straight information, rather than emotions, opinions, defenses or arguments. You donโt need to defend yourself when another person is being hostile. Itโs not about you. Itโs about their inability to manage their emotions and responses. Just stay focused on providing relevant information.
- Friendly: Be graceful and still add the general courtesy to your communication that you would to anyone else. This may seem hard to do when youโre being attacked in writing or verbally. But it avoids feeding the hostilities and may even calm an upset person. Just a friendly greeting and closing; nothing too involved. This helps keep the hostilities from escalating. It also shows that you have good self-restraint. The next point makes sure you are not being walked over.
- Firm: This means that you end the conversation rather than feeding the hostilities. It doesnโt mean harsh. Just avoid anything that opens the door to more hostile comments back. Say something that calmly ends the conversation. Sometimes, you will need a response from the other person, so just ask a question seeking a Yes or No answer by such-and-such time and/or date.