How To Deliver Bad News to Colleagues
How To Deliver Bad News to Colleagues
Delivering bad news to senior management doesn’t need to be a scary proposition. Senior managers want to know when things go wrong so they can be practiced in fixing them.
The best way to deliver bad news is to be straightforward. You need to clearly explain to them what went wrong, what you’re doing about it (or what options can be taken to deal with it), why it went wrong and lastly, how to prevent it from happening again.
Most people make the mistake of wanting to explain what went wrong, why it went wrong, and then leave the problem in the management’s lap.
Management just wants to know that you understand the problem and that you’re proactive in dealing with it. What they don’t want is to have you whine about the problem.
Make sure before you go in and speak to senior management that you believe they will find you as a more credible leader by being straightforward about the problems being faced. This will allow you to confidently stand before them with both the problem and the solution. It will stop you from defending why the problem exists.
To learn the best way to deliver news or information join us at our public Outcome Focus® Approach to Managing Your Strategic Message Seminar. Click on the Training tab, Training for Individuals.