In Ancient Greece a messenger who brought bad news had a chance to end up owning one way ticket to the underworld. Or simply saying killed.

Fortunately it’s not the case these days but the anxiety of announcing bad news either to your team or customers doesn’t seem to lessen with centuries passing by. It truly can be considered as one of the most unpleasant parts of the job for any manager.

That’s what Robert J. Bies, an expert in leadership and organisational justice says about the delivery of bad news:

“… the evidence suggests that people overestimate the effects events will have on them, and that effect is stronger for negative events than for positive events… how one delivers the bad news may play a key role in shaping how people initially interpret the information and shape their coping process.”

Delivery of bad news is a skill which is quite important for your success as a leader. Here are some principles to be applied based on scientific researches and observations at a workplace:

1. Prepare yourself and rehears delivery

Identify your objectives. What outcome do you want to see? What tone do you want to set? Which points to address? Delivering bad news is a challenging task so you have to make sure that you’re ready and emotions will not kick in at the most important moment. Practicing your messages and body language will enhance your confidence. Equip yourself with facts. There might be questions so make sure you have answers.

2. Share news as soon as possible

Informing your team as soon as possible is critical. Delay may cause spreading rumours and false information thus creating unnecessary anxiety and affecting productivity. Robert J. Bies says:

“Many people sit on bad news, hoping that things will improve. Such delays are costly, as conditions can continue to worsen. Bad news delayed is bad news compounded.”

3. Use appropriate channels of communication

Define a delivery tool depending on how bad the news is. The more serious it is, the more face-to-face interaction is needed. No one wants to find out that the building is on fire via e-mail. Use different channels to make sure everyone is on the same page.

In 2006, RadioShack was criticised for notifying laid-off employees by email, it was even seen as a dehumanising act. “The work force reduction notification is currently in progress,” the notice stated. “Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated.”

4. Don’t hide facts and be straight-forward

If you try to sugar-coat bad news, use reassuring language or soften the message by cracking jokes people might not understand the full weight of the statement. Be straight-forward, people deserve to know things as they are.

5. Take ownership

No one ever said it better than Dwight D. Eisenhower:

“Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.”

Your team members should know that you as a leader take full responsibility for what’s happening in your team or company. Don’t play the blame game. There’s nothing more precious than loyalty and trust of your teammates so hold on to it.

A great example would be a letter which in 2009 David Neeleman, JetBlue’s founder and CEO, wrote to all JetBlue customers after its planes were stuck on the runway fully loaded with passengers for hours: “Words cannot express how truly sorry we are for the anxiety, frustration and inconvenience that we caused. This is especially saddening because JetBlue was founded on the promise of bringing humanity back to air travel and making the experience of flying happier and easier for everyone who chooses to fly with us. We know we failed to deliver on this promise last week.”

6. Provide an opportunity for people to ask questions and offer
ideas

Make room for your team members to place their suggestions and ask question after you made an announcement. This will serve you in multiple ways:

• people will be reassured that their opinion matters which is important for maintaining healthy dynamics in the team,
• you’ll gather valuable perspectives on how to solve the problem,
• people will understand the situation better and they’ll more likely stick to what the solutions are.

7. Treat people with respect and validate their feelings

Regardless of how bad the news is you want people to be left with dignity and self-esteem in tact. Even if you have to be tough let your teammates know that you acknowledge and accept what they feel. Be compassionate, send a message that people do matter, show respect.

8. Provide a solution

“When delivering bad news, present solutions or an action plan to solve the problems that led to the bad news… This will keep attention on future improvement and underscore that the situation, however bad, is being addressed in a problem solving way. Bad news without solutions is truly bad news.”, suggests Robert J. Bies.

No matter how hard the situation might be, remember it’s part of your leadership journey. If you manage to go through tough times having these 8 principles as your guidance, people’s confidence in your leading abilities will be hard to get shaken. As well as your own confidence.

Ever had to deliver bad news? Let us know what principles you applied in the comments below.

About the author: Alla Berdnikova is a traveler and blogger who has been working as a project manager in non-governmental organisations and online startups for more than 4 years.

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