Now for the Bad News

(Getty image in Donelly, 2011)

It's now time for the bad news. 

The experts all seem to agree that at this point, the bad news is best delivered clearly and directly.

Guffey et al. suggest including an alternative or compromise if possible - emphasizing what you CAN do (Guffey, M E, Rhodes, K,  Rogin, P,  2010).

For example:

"While our rewards program does not offer free trips to the moon, you can choose from our wide range of terrestrial destinations."

The Reason

The reason is the background to the bad news (Guffey, M E, Rhodes, K,  Rogin, P,  2010). 

It essentially explains the news that is about to come.  The video below explains it in more detail and provides good examples of how to use “The Reason.”

(O'Connor, 2013)

The Buffer

The buffer is integral to making bad news sound good.

The idea is to keep the person’s attention without raising their expectations by leading them to believe that they are about to receive good news (University of Houston – Victoria, n.d., Para. 2).

The buffer establishes common ground between you and the recipient (ibid.).  It is something you can both agree on (Guffey, M E, Rhodes, K,  Rogin, P,  2010).

An example of a buffer:

"Thank you for sharing your concerns about our rewards program."

as opposed to

"What do you mean you have a problem with our rewards program?"

 

So how DO we make bad news sound good?

Making bad news sound good is really about using an indirect approach.

The news is delivered clearly but diplomatically and is prefaced with a buffer (Guffey, M E, Rhodes, K,  Rogin, P,  2010).

Don't ask someone else to deliver the bad news for you

Don't delay

(Chernoff, 2009)

Based on feedback from my first post, it seems that for many of us, our first instinct is to avoid delivering bad news for as long as possible. 

Sadly this tactic doesn't make the bad news go away.  Neither does it make it any easier to deliver the news.

The solution: Just do it!

How to give bad news

I was reading a Forbes article (Anderson, 2013, June) a few months ago that got me thinking about how we deliver bad news. 

No one likes to receive bad news and no one likes to be the bearer of bad news. 



(Anderson, M, 2013)

Yet, sooner or later, in both our personal and professional lives, we find ourselves (reluctantly) having to deliver the news that nobody wants to hear. 

So how do we deliver this news?    Is it really possible to make bad news sound good?  Or does it lead to miscommunication? 

Do we dress up the news to make it sound good?  Or do we downplay it and hope nobody cares? 

In the coming posts, I’ll share with you what some experts think is the best way to give bad news and you can let me know what you think about the topic.