Bad News Messages

Mark Nelson

Business Communications

Paper Number 2

1/10/17

Delivering bad news is a very sensitive topic and it will greatly affect how people see an organization. If done correctly there is a much better chance that you will remain having a positive relationship with the recipient. The structure and order that the bad news is delivered plays a very important role in determining the outcome of the situation. However, the median that the message is communicated on is also very important. Bad news can be communicated on paper, electronically, or verbally.  Communicating bad news verbally, specifically face-to-face, is generally the most effective way to deliver bad news. But when dealing with large groups it is generally too difficult to personally deliver bad news. So, communicating electronically or on paper becomes necessary. Nevertheless, there are also many other merits to delivering bad news electronically or on paper. Regardless of the median, using the inductive approach will improve your chances of effectively delivering the bad news.

        Verbally delivering a bad news message can be very uncomfortable for both the sender and receiver of the message. Which may result in people postponing it, or mitigate the discomfort by using a different median of communication. Delaying or using the wrong median of communication can end up being very costly to the organization. It is critical to deliver the information in a timely manner for performance improvement. Without bad news, a company will never know what they are doing wrong, therefore will not be able to improve themselves. Whether that be firing the underachievers or letting the top executives know that sales are low and a new strategy might be necessary. It is also very important to use verbal communication when necessary in delivering a bad news message, even if it feels uncomfortable. Generally, when the message can be emotional or it is very important it is critical to communicate it verbally. Face-to-face communication is the more common approach to verbal communication, but if that is not possible due to distance or time constraints a phone call can also be used. It is important to note that there will still be the same level of discomfort communicating on the phone as in face-to-face. However, there is also the added difficulty there not being any nonverbal communication. So, the message itself and the tone you convey the message is said in becomes increasingly important, since there will be a higher chance of a misunderstanding. Portraying empathy and even apologizing will show that you care about the recipient. Saying you’re sorry about the news doesn’t implicate guilt or that you did something wrong and it just may help you retain a positive relationship for the future. Verbally communicating the message also allows for immediate feedback. This can help improve the situation, but it may also worsen it. With immediate feedback, it allows the receiver to ask questions and lets the sender rephrase certain things to help reduce any misunderstanding. (Lehman, Walker, 2015 pp. 107) However, it also allows for the escalation of emotions. If the receiver gets angry and starts yelling and making a sense it may prompt the sender of the message to retaliate and start yelling back. This is almost certainly leave a sour taste for both parties and everyone will end up unhappy. Therefore, it is important for the sender of the message to be prepared for situations like this and learn how to handle them. Everyone is different and therefore will handle bad news very differently. Even if the sender of the bad news does everything perfectly, the receiver may still act in an ill-mannered way.

        Electronically delivering a bad news message through mail/email, electronic postings or office memos has many different pros and cons. Communicating the message electronically or on paper can actually help increase honesty and the accuracy of the information conveyed. One of the major factors contributing to this was that both the sender and receiver of the bad news were more comfortable and therefore didn’t distort the information. A very common problem of verbally communicating a bad news message is that the sender tries to sugarcoat the message as much as possible to avoid any hard feelings. One thing they don’t realize is that it still does not make the news any more palatable, it just leads to increased misunderstandings. Since the main goal of delivering an effective bad news message is to ensure the audience understands and accepts the message, you can see how this becomes a problem. Another benefit to communicating a bad news message electronically or on paper, is that there are fewer social cues. Since the sender of the message doesn’t see or hear the recipient immediately it allows them to focus more on the message. Which directly reduces the amount of discomfort they feel which in return lowers the likelihood of them distorting any information. (Sussman, Sproull, 1997) On the other hand, if the sender is not careful they may end up writing a message that is insensitive and lacks empathy. Without the seeing or hearing the receiver they may not take their feelings into consideration, and end up ruining any future relationship that may have occurred in the future. Therefore, it is incredibly important to use the same techniques when communicating electronically or on paper, as you would when verbally communicating a bad news message.