HOW TO DELIVER BAD NEWS: 5-MINUTE PRIMER

You aren’t always given a lot of warning when bad news has to be delivered. While the powers-that-be know months in advance, say, that layoffs are going to be happening—they tend to keep that information close until they absolutely have to share it. So while you’re processing the impact of decisions made, you’ll also need to quickly find a sensitive way to deliver bad news. Here’s a five-minute plan.

Minute 1: Decide how the disaster affects you personally but then distance yourself from your own feelings.
Minute 2: Consider the position the people you need to deliver the news to may already be in, and how this news will affect that position.
Minute 3: Divide a piece of paper into two columns and list how the news affects you in one column and how it may affect them in the other.
Minute 4: Connect to their concerns—how you’re going through this together?
Minute 5: Think of sincere ways you can offer your support, that you can and will actually follow through on.

Now take a deep breath and head out to break the news. Chances are, if you’ve really thought about how the news will affect others, and make that a pivotal part of your delivery, they may still, in fact, love you in the morning.

(Excerpted from Loud and Clear by Karen Berg. Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/wm2tod4)