{"id":6992,"date":"2020-03-13T15:02:42","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T13:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greatpeopleinside.com\/?p=6992"},"modified":"2020-03-13T15:02:44","modified_gmt":"2020-03-13T13:02:44","slug":"how-to-deliver-bad-news-to-your-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatpeopleinside.com\/fi\/how-to-deliver-bad-news-to-your-team\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Deliver Bad News to Your Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p> It&#8217;s every leader&#8217;s or manager&#8217;s least favourite task: delivering bad news. Maybe your company is closing one of the offices, or letting some people go. Or you have an employee who isn&#8217;t getting the promotion he or she wants, or can&#8217;t take an expensive training course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In any case, your first impulse may be to soften the blow. After all, you&#8217;re a caring person, and you&#8217;d like to make a difficult situation easier. Generally, you start the conversation by talking about something else. And when it&#8217;s time to deliver the news, you try to sugarcoat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Few people like to\u00a0deliver\u00a0bad news.\u00a0But the ability to do so with grace and compassion is an essential skill for any leader or manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s a key tool of a leader who knows how to lead well. When a leader creates and maintains momentum by their ideas, their ingenuity, and their actions, the rest of their team falls naturally into their rhythm. And that\u2019s when the great work is accomplished. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve all had that moment on an airplane where we experience turbulence. Maybe you are rudely awakened by a sudden jolt, or you get up to use the restroom and have to hold onto the back of someone\u2019s seat. Within a few seconds, the pilot\u2019s voice comes over the intercom. What are you listening for? You are listening for reassurance through the uncertainty of turbulence.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With countless concerns over Covid-19 around the world, it\u2019s not just the airline industry that is experiencing a sudden wobble on its normal journey. Many business leaders are asking how they can communicate uncertainty both internally to their teams and externally to their clients \u2014 whether it\u2019s about participating in an upcoming conference or delivering on an already signed project. Communicating in the face of uncertainty is a constant leadership challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in any business, there are times when you are on cloud nine and times when you\u2019re down in the dark. What does a leader have to do when bad news has to be shared?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>1. Know his audience \u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In public speaking, knowing your audience in advance is critical. In times of uncertainty, it\u2019s quintessential, regardless through what channel of communication. Do a thorough strategic analysis of who you are communicating to. What are their concerns, questions, or interests? What do they need an immediate answer to? You might use language such as, \u201cI know many of you may be thinking\u2026\u201d The quicker you can address what\u2019s on their mind, the quicker you will be able to calm them down. If you are not addressing their most pressing interests, they might not even be listening to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>2. Thorough Research<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In times of hardship and stress, it is easier to fall prey to misinformation, which can be especially destructive. Seek out credible sources of information, and read the information fully before distilling it into clear, concise language. Share those links with others, so that they too have a credible resource. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>3. Set up specific \u2018next steps\u2019<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In times of uncertainty, it\u2019s helpful to provide your team with tangible\naction items. Discussing your own next steps or recommending next steps to your\naudience gives them a sense of control so they feel like they are contributing\nto stabilisation. Use language such as, \u201cHere are the steps we are taking\u201d or\n\u201cHere\u2019s what you can do\u201d to demonstrate action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Communicating through uncertainty is an essential leadership skill, regardless of whether or not you have a formal leadership role. In fact, the ability to communicate through uncertainty is part of what demonstrates to others your leadership readiness. Use the aforementioned steps to first find your own sense of focus and then allow yourself to transmit that reassurance to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>4. Speak honestly<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can speak with confidence even without 100% certainty. You can confidently express doubt or uncertainty, while still sounding like you are in control of the situation. You might say, \u201cReports are still coming in, but what we understand so far is this\u2026\u201d Communicate frequently with your audience, even without news to report, so that they know you are actively following the issue. A fantastic communication expert, Nancy Duarte, wrote an insightful article on this topic several years ago and stated: \u201cPeople will be more willing to forgive your in-progress ideas if they feel like they\u2019re part of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can&#8217;t make\u00a0bad news less painful, but you can deliver it in the most respectful way possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a real value in providing companies with the tools to carry out regular organisational assessments and\u00a0this is where <a href=\"http:\/\/greatpeopleinside.com\/\">Great People Inside <\/a>comes    to your aid. Our online platform offers the best solutions and tools    for your company to thrive in every type of industry and any possible    situation your organisation may find itself. In terms of lowering your    employee turnover rates, we recommend our <a href=\"http:\/\/greatpeopleinside.com\/gr8-full-spectrum\/\">GR8 Full Spectrum <\/a>assessment for hiring and <a href=\"http:\/\/greatpeopleinside.com\/gr8-360\/\">360\u00b0 Survey<\/a>    for retention. Finding the right talent, the best fit for the job and    your organisation can be a very challenging task. It requires deep    knowledge of your own organisation&#8217;s culture and a keen understanding of    the candidate\u2019s personality, strengths, interests, work style and   other  characteristics. Our technology and solutions will do the work   for you,  helping you find employees who can flourish and reach the   highest  performance required to constantly bring your company forward.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>   Request a\u00a0free demo:    <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/greatpeopleinside.com\/free-demo\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/greatpeopleinside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/B_txt_14.png\" alt=\"B_txt_14\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p> Sources: <br><em> https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/williamvanderbloemen\/2016\/11\/17\/how-to-effectively-break-bad-news-to-your-team\/#3a6f1cb468b7     <br> https:\/\/www.inc.com\/alison-davis\/need-to-deliver-bad-news-to-employees-science-says-do-this.html   <br> https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/adaptation\/201803\/how-deliver-bad-news-pro  <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s every leader&#8217;s or manager&#8217;s least favourite task: delivering bad news. Maybe your company is closing one of the offices, or letting some people go. Or you have an employee who isn&#8217;t getting the promotion he or she wants, or can&#8217;t take an expensive training course. In any case, your first impulse may be to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[127],"tags":[96,89,94,191,95,64,69,39,97,80,82],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Deliver Bad News to Your Team - Great People Inside<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Maybe your company is closing one of the offices or letting some people go and it&#039;s every leader&#039;s or manager&#039;s least favourite task: delivering bad news.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/greatpeopleinside.com\/how-to-deliver-bad-news-to-your-team\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Deliver Bad News to Your Team - 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