Delivering Bad News

C.U.B.E. for Conflict

To learn more about CUBE and how to use, please view the CUBE Overview

Best Practices for Delivering Bad News

  • Have a clear plan for how all the impacted parties will learn about the news.
  • For planned conversations, have this conversation in the morning early in the week, e.g. Tuesday at 9:00 or 10:00. It gives everyone more time to reset and adjust to the new reality.
  • Share any important context or personal emotions, e.g. “I consider you a friend and this is a difficult conversation.”
  • Name the elephant early and fully:  “John, we are going to have a 50 percent reduction in force. Your position is safe...”
  • Clarify that the decision has been made and own the decision if it is yours.
  • Outline what is still to be decided, e.g. the transition, etc.

C

REATE CONTEXT & OBJECTIVES

  • Ask them if there is anything that they want to share with you.  
  • Paraphrase what you hear and appreciate the impact it has on them.
  • Take responsibility for your role.
  • The general rule of thumb is to be as honest as you can while preservering everyone’s dignity. This is not a good time to blame others.
  • For Q&A in group conversations, write their questions on a whiteboard so that they know you heard them.

NDERSTAND EACH OTHER’S WORLDS… THEIR WORLD FIRST

U

  • Identify what is still to be decided, e.g. packages, timing, etc.
  • Explore options to make the transition smooth.

B

RAINSTORM OPTIONS

  • Decide and fully align on clear next steps. Clarify what is confidential and how to share news or answer questions from others.
  • Schedule a time in the next day or two for Q&A. 
  • Share who is handling what from a communication perspective.

E

ND WITH COMMITMENTS

Common Mistakes for Delivering Bad News

  • Not being totally clear up front with the decision or the news. Trying to ease into it often backfires.
  • Feathering information, e.g. sharing news bit by bit.  The big bath is easier psychologically.
  • Not having a communication plan in place to update the rest of the team.
  • Having the conversation at the wrong time or in the wrong place. Fridays are a terrible time to share bad news.

C

REATE CONTEXT & OBJECTIVES

  • Not taking responsibility for any role you may have had.
  • Not empathizing with their emotional response even if you disagree with their perspective.
  • Not being able to tolerate their anger or upset. Thinking that they will be logical and be able to hear your reasoning.
  • Lack of patience to hear people out--even if they are being repetitive.
  • Thinking you already said it and they heard everything you said. They’ll likely remember only the bad comments.

NDERSTAND EACH OTHER’S WORLDS… THEIR WORLD FIRST

U

  • Not be willing to explore options for how to make the transition easier for people.
  • Not letting people share their ideas even though the decision has already been made.

B

RAINSTORM OPTIONS

  • Not letting them know you support them on the personal level.
  • Not being clear about next steps, logins not working, whose leaving, etc.  Lack of clarity of next steps and the new future is your worst enemy.
  • Not clarifying confidentialities and what to say when people ask them what happened.

E

ND WITH COMMITMENTS

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