Podcast — Delivering Bad News

Delivering bad news to staff is definitely one of the hardest jobs of

being a manager. There is nothing nice about delivering bad news to employees

and team members. It sucks, yet it is part of the job. Businesses have ups and

downs, so you will have to deliver bad news multiple times during your

management career. There are tried and tested steps to make difficult

conversations easier for the recipients and for yourself. Minimising the anger,

upset and damage to relationships from delivering bad news at work is very

valuable to you and to the business. Do a good job and team members are much less

likely to leave, are likely to remain more motivated and produce higher team

performance and appreciate you a lot more. Today we're going through firstly

how to deliver bad news to team members to minimise the negative impact. Secondly

to provide context in an honest and straightforward way. Third, allow venting

of emotions but minimise debate. And fourth, get the team focused on the

future. Make your life at work a lot easier by doing the best job you can

when delivering bad news to your team at work.

My name is Jess Coles and if you're new here, Enhanced.Training shares

people management expertise, resources and courses teaching you how to build

higher performing teams. I've included links to additional videos and resources

in the description below as well as a video timestamp so do take a look at

these. And if you like this video please give it a thumbs up and subscribe. So

let's cover how to deliver bad news to team members to minimise the negative

impact. No one likes delivering bad news. A lot of research on how best to give

bad news comes from the medical profession. The foremost important

factors in order are firstly the news givers attitude, secondly the clarity of

the message, third privacy and fourth the person's ability to answer questions.

Your attitude and communication skills have an enormous impact on how your

messages will be received. When you're delivering bad news to employees get

straight to the point. Don't spend time first you know engaging in small talk or

asking how they are or building yourself up to give them the bad news.

Instead announce that you are delivering bad news. Give them literally a second or

two to prepare themselves and then give them the bad news. If for example I have

some bad news to share with you. You're being made redundant effective from

Friday. I'm very sorry about this situation. Or I'm sharing some bad news.

10% of the workforce including managers will be made redundant in the next four

weeks. Unfortunately the company needs to cut its costs because of the downturn in

its sales. I'm very sorry that this is happening. When prepared people are

surprisingly resilient. Prepare them for the bad news, pause for a second or two

and then give them the bad news. Show your emotions and sympathise with those

receiving the news. Show your empathy and compassion in your tone of

voice and in your body language. It is very important that your nonverbal

communication mirrors the words you're using. When verbal and nonverbal

communication are aligned there is no confusion. Be ready for a lot of emotion

in response. Remember their reactions are about the situation not about you

personally. Stay empathetic, honest and in control of your own emotions. Second

when delivering bad news to staff provide the context in an honest and

straightforward way. Explain the context or the process of the actions leading up

to the decision. Be honest and tell the truth. People receiving bad news

appreciate a straight-talking person who tells the truth with compassion. If there

are things you can't reveal say you're unable to share them. Be honest and

straightforward while explaining the situation that has led to the bad news.

For example, as we have been sharing with you over the last six months the

company has continued to make losses. We've undertaken several cost-cutting

initiatives which many of you have been involved with. We have now reached the

point where cutting staff costs is the only practical option left. We've

exhausted other options. The decision was taken this morning and the

leadership wanted you to know as soon as possible to reduce the uncertainty that

everyone is feeling. Note the inclusive language using a lot of we to emphasise

that everyone is in it together. Provide the context in an honest and

straightforward way. Third when delivering bad news to staff allow

venting of emotions but minimise debate. Allow a lot of time for questions and

answer the questions raised in an empathetic and honest way. Be

straightforward and as factual as possible in your answers. Try to avoid

giving opinions where possible. Allow the staff members to vent their emotions,

their frustration, their anger and their anxiety about the future. Expect

difficult questions and comments. Be prepared emotionally to handle them

calmly with sympathy while remaining honest and straightforward. In these

situations with emotions running high avoid siding with or aligning yourself

with the staff's position or situation. Don't say things like yeah I think this

is a bad decision too. Stay neutral, sympathise but don't join them. Stop any

debate starting on the merits of the decisions already made. Remind the

staff that the decision has been taken and talking about it will not change

that decision. Help staff to mentally move on to dealing with a situation.

Provide information and what reassurance you can. Fourth after delivering bad news

to staff get the team focused on the future. Give the staff time to process

the bad news and what it means for them and then focus the staff on the future.

The bad news you have communicated is almost guaranteed to give rise to

additional problems that need solving. If for instance who is going to do XYZ's

job when they leave. Ask the team members to be part of the solution building

process. This helps them focus on the future and move forward. If you're able

to create and communicate a vision of the future. Use straightforward everyday

language to explain where you see the team going and what the future might

look like. This helps provide direction and hope for the future. The worst thing

at this point is for there not to be a plan and for everything to be

disorganised. This increases the uncertainty. Instead do your best to

create as much certainty as possible by giving clear direction, by having clear

sensible and practical plans and communicating these with the team. Plan

as many actions to create as much certainty as possible about the future.

So in summary delivering bad news to staff is really unpleasant. It can be

really tough when you are responsible for looking after them and

when you've been working with them for a period of time. Delivering bad news

carefully, professionally and empathetically is really important to

maintain motivation and team performance and to make the best out of a bad

situation. As a reminder when delivering bad news to staff think about how to

deliver bad news to team members to minimise the negative impact. Announce it,

wait a few seconds and then give them the bad news. Second, provide the context

in an honest and straightforward way. Third, allow venting of emotions but

minimise the debate. And fourth, get the team focused on the future. If you have

any questions on delivering bad news to staff make difficult conversations

easier please leave them in the comments below and I'll get back to you. Thanks

very much for watching and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.