Episode 57: Conveying Bad News in Business Writing Video Lecture | Business Communication: The Ultimate Guide

hey thanks for joining me in this short
video I'm just going to review some of
the helpful guidelines for developing
messages when conveying bad news
we know that unfortunately in business
there comes a time when we do have to
relay a piece of negative communication
and so in order for us to maintain
positive relationships with our
co-workers and with our colleagues and
peers it's important that we can phrase
it in such a way doesn't necessarily
change the underlying idea that we're
declining or something of that nature
but the manner in which we do it can
foster the relationship and allow it to
continue as opposed to being just
blatantly rude or mean and so we're
going to focus on ultimately how to do
that what I have here are a couple of
examples of ways that you could
structure such a message one obviously
is better than the other and I'm sure as
you're reading through that you can
figure out which one is and so the top
one here we can just go ahead and read
through this briefly this is a letter
that was sent obviously to a particular
individual related to a question about
installing GPS of course so from what it
says is we cannot or can't afford to
install and in - GPS system in our
current fleet of company vehicles I
would really like to afford you the
luxury of having GPS navigate your trips
unfortunately the cost of installing GPS
and our current trucks is excessive at
over five hundred dollars per truck and
then there is a monthly service fee
management would never agree to spend
that much money at this time I do I'll
do what I can to convince management to
include GPS in the specifications of
future company vehicles there's a couple
of things to key in on you may argue
that you know what this doesn't sound
necessarily bad to me you know maybe
there are certain things I would change
but as a whole I might send this type of
message and there are a couple of things
that should stand out to you as far as
things that maybe you would want to
tweak the first thing is this subject
line right here and you look it already
says GPS out of the question and so
already you've given the reader no
further incentive to actually look at
what you've included because they know
that you've already declined their
request so really why would I waste my
time why would I read further and as a
writer if you're declining somebody you
generally do not want to give away what
it is that you're trying to communicate
right off the bat now you might argue
hey it's more clear it's more direct
people will appreciate that and that's
true however if you're trying to
convince somebody or make them
understand why it is that you went
through a certain course of action you
generally want to start with an
inductive approach meaning that you
explain yourself first you provide the
different facts your analyses your
reasoning for refusing their request and
then after they've had a chance to see
your reasoning maybe it'll make the no a
little easier to understand because they
may not agree with it at the end of the
day they may think they still want this
and it should be approved but at least
they understand why you chose that
certain course of action and so that
that does what we call build goodwill
because although we may not always agree
on the decisions that we make we at
least understand the thought process
that was considered and can understand
the rationale so I would never recommend
starting with a subject line that is
already declines the request or already
hints that the request is going to be
declined because it gives the reader no
further incentive to actually open the
email or read the document further it's
a complete waste of time notice in the
first sentence already they say we can't
afford to install an in-dash global
positioning system and our current fleet
of vehicles you know once again starting
with the main idea first if you're using
an inductive approach if you're trying
to send or communicate bad news you want
to start with that information towards
the end you want to start by
communicating what it is that your
reasoning is to help them understand you
notice further it almost comes off a
little condescending here too is I would
really like to afford you the luxury of
having a GPS navigate your trips you
know it comes off a little condescending
a little combative in nature basically
saying you know this is a luxury so suck
it up you really don't need this right
go ahead and print out a map before you
leave and then your
completely fine so you don't want to
take a combative approach once again if
I'm reading this maybe someone might
glanced over but if I read this I'm
thinking you know that's not very nice
and I you know once again I'm just not
necessarily going to transition further
into the body of this particular message
here so maybe a more effective approach
is this second email which is the same
content it's just warded a different way
and I'll read this through briefly and
then we can discuss it and it starts
with the subject line installation of
GPS suggestion so you notice that it's
very neutral it doesn't lead you to
believe that you're refusing the
statement or that there's bad news
coming you just know that they're
responding to your installation request
for our GPS so first your suggestion to
install an in-dash global positioning
system in our current fleet of vehicles
was good so you notice how it starts
very positive right you're reinforcing
the reader you're thanking them for
writing a suggestion which is great
because as an employer the best
suggestions come from the people they
directly impact it isn't your executives
thinking of these great ideas and their
ivory towers it is the people that are
doing the work that identified there is
an opportunity and identify a
shortcoming with the current process and
they say hey we should do this so you
don't want to discourage them from
suggesting further things because that's
where you can lack innovation and then
you get stale as a company and it gets
very difficult to continue to develop
and be innovative if you're Co if your
employees are very fearful of getting
suggestions because you completely turn
them down and make them feel bad so
moving forward
having GPS systems and our vehicles
would be a convenient addition once
again you read that sentence and there
is nothing to indicate that the person
is leaning towards one way or the other
I know that you know we're agreeing at
this point right and that's what you
want to get the reader to do is agree
with you yes I agree that my suggestion
was good that's not very very far reach
yes I agree that it would be convenient
that's why I suggested it and so you get
them agreeing with your rationale notice
this next paragraph after checking the
price on installing these in our current
trucks I found that it would cost five
hundred dollars per truck plus a monthly
service fee once again nothing as far as
opinion goes this is all fact I can't
dispute this it
cost 500 ollars per truck there is a
monthly fee we are still in agreement
here with the current budget situation
these costs would be prohibited or
prohibitive during the current recession
okay unless I've been living under a
rock the last few years I'm well aware
that there's an accession going on
I understand how those can imply or can
create some budgetary constraints
obviously revenues are probably not as
high as they could have been consumer
spending is historically lower so these
are things that I agree with this is a
very rational argument I'm a reasonable
person I can understand this since the
idea is an excellent one we can propose
to management that future company
vehicles include the GPS this should be
less expensive and cost can be budgeted
thank you for the excellent idea and I
will pass on to management so we don't
necessarily stop the idea at this point
right we filter it we continue to put it
up to management right because it is a
good idea and we want to encourage the
employee to continue to think of good
ideas because those are going to benefit
us as a company but notice what they did
very interestingly in paragraph three
right they transitioned the the argument
almost they develop what we call a
counter proposal which you always want
to do you never want to end on a bad
note hey I know it sucks but sorry we're
not going to approve this so get over it
bla bla bla and you expect the employee
to go on their merry way being
productive and all those different
things meanwhile they're going to be
that's going to sit it's going to
resonate with them it's not going to sit
very positively but instead they have a
counterproposal it's like hey this is a
great idea we would normally love this
cost is obviously an issue so this is
what we think we can do why don't we
budget for future vehicles you think you
know what maybe I didn't get exactly
what I wanted but instill there is some
change the idea is good they reinforce
that and ultimately there are going to
be some changes going forward with new
company vehicles being equipped with GPS
and then once again a rational argument
this should be less expensive and cost
we can budget for these okay completely
rational arguments here and so what you
do and they did this perfectly is they
tucked the bad-news
kind of in the middle right you have the
the good news up here right or not
necessarily good news but neutral
arguments and then you know once again
you
have your counterproposal more positive
news but you don't have the actual bad
news until you get to the second
paragraph so it's tucked away it's not
the first thing I mentioned because I
want the reader to continue reading my
my recommendation or my reasoning but
it's not the last thing because I don't
want to necessarily leave a sour taste
in their mouth so I want that
counterproposal you know I want to say
you know what I'm declining you but
here's what we can do and they
understand the reasoning and the
argument here now one of the things that
you also want to do is in the close is
you do want to shift the focus away from
the bad news you told them no there's no
reason to pour salt in the wound there's
no reason to rub it in you want to
transition away from that negative news
and they obviously do that by going
through the counter proposal and then
explaining how this is an excellent idea
it's going to be passed on to management
thanking the individual for their time
in developing it and that's what you can
do to help continue and foster the
relationship as I said our goal here is
to make sure that the lines of
communication are open our employees
understand our reasoning behind it right
they understand the why and ultimately
that makes that decision to tell them
know a little more understanding and so
try to if you're ever in a position to
which you're communicating potentially
negative information you know first you
want to assess well is a letter or email
the best way to do it maybe it's a
face-to-face conversation but if you
decide that ultimately a face to vary
email or memo of some kind is the best
way to do it make sure that you
structure it in a way that encourages
the reader to go through and actually
see your reasoning but also reinforces
the behavior that you want and that is
that you want them making
recommendations you want them doing
things of that nature you don't want to
discourage them and so follow that
format and that will ultimately increase
the effectiveness of your written
communication