It is often disconcerting to work with what is best described as a "complaint department." One difficult issue associated with such a department is that you automatically have an expectation that they will complain about whatever your department does, and this can cause you to be less patient with them, leading to even more complaints.
It is not surprising to find that a complaining manager has filled his department with complainers. One reason for this occurrence is that managers often hire people similar to themselves. A second reason is that employees often model the behavior of their managers. The result is that you have a department that starts thinking about complaints as soon as they hear from you.
There is a proactive strategy that can help calm things down. When you are working on programs or processes that will impact this department, invite the manager to sit in on a couple of planning sessions, or at least give him a preview of whatever is being introduced, including an opportunity to voice his input. If he is pre-sold, many of the complaints will be preempted.
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