Both non verbal and verbal Communication are vital when delivering negative news.
The proper strategies for delivering negative news within an organization include
avoiding poor body language, getting straight to the point, explaining how and why
the decision was made, allow the employees venting time, focus on the future (allow
the employees time to take the info in) and help them get past the news and look
toward the future. A negative message should be carefully planned. Be clear and
concise in order not to require additional clarification. Help the receiver understand and
accept the news. Maintain trust and respect for the business or organization and for
the receiver. Avoid legal liability or erroneous admission of guilt or culpability.
Maintain the relationship, even if a formal association is being terminated. Reduce the
anxiety associated with the negative news to increase comprehension. Achieve the
designated business outcome. The differences between an indirect and direct approach
for delivering negative messages are that the direct approach focuses on delivering the
news, explanation for the news, and ends with a positive statement. The indirect
approach focuses on providing the reasons for the bad news and then presenting the
bad news. When delivering negative news within an organization, it is best to plan
carefully by gathering information to help the audience accept and understand the news;
meanwhile, keeping a clear purpose, as well as the audience's needs, in mind. Negative
news can be a major shock to some, causing even the smallest flaws to seem greater
than what they are. Producing clean documents will assist in eliminating any mistakes,
making the negative news easier to understand. The communicator needs to consider
that the audience does not want to hear what has to be said. Finding the right channel
and medium is critical. Generally it's better to deliver the negative message in person
so the audience has an opportunity to ask questions to get a better understanding of
the news, as well as shows respect to the receiver of the message. You must also
consider the more appropriate message organization to help the audience accept the
negative news. For more serious matters, or news that you have high emotional
involvement with, it is better to use an indirect approach that offers buffers, reasoning,
and a positive angle. Direct approach is more appropriate for news holding low
emotional involvement. Some proper strategies for delivering negative news within an
organization is to choose your language carefully, you can still deliver negative news
without being extremely negative, you can incorporate positive words into your
message. Don’t use a tone that sounds like you are accusing the other person of doing
something wrong and be respectful of the other person. Make sure your message is
clear, professional and ethical. Special circumstances the communicator should consider
when delivering the negative message is how it may impact the person or audience
receiving the message, this will help you to decide if you should use a direct or
indirect approach. Also, if the negative news is termination of an employee you may
want to be very empathetic and have additional support with you if the person has a
hard time with the information they just received. The main difference between a direct
and indirect approach for a negative message is that the direct approach opens with
the bad news, and the indirect approach ends with the bad news instead of opening
with it. Negative messages is something that I have seen in a work place but never
really dealt with it myself. I know from what I saw the person who got the bad news
was pushed out more and nothing really positive was said or done in a professional
way. So from this one incident it spread around the workplace and other employees
became more distrustful of the higher up since it seemed they didn't care how they
looked in that situation. A good strategy would have to be to use appropriate wording
and not come off like you don't care or rush the news just to move away from the
subject. Another strategies would be to bring people in and have sit downs to discuss
the issues and see how they can be fixed. Now the channel of communication is very
important on how you deliver the massage like a sit down with the people is better
then just sending a text you can see how much more important a real sit down is
compared to a text. When you are delivering a negative message there are five goals
that you should try to maintain which are 1. to convey the bad news 2. to gain
acceptance for it 3. to maintain as much goodwill as possible with your audience 4.
to maintain a good image for your organization and 5. if appropriate, to reduce or
eliminate the need for future correspondence on the matter. Those are the five goals
that you need to be able to deliver a negative message properly. Also the proper
strategies for delivering a negative news within the organization are carefully plan the
negative message , then write the negative message, and lastly complete the message.
The difference between an indirect and direct approach for negative messages is that a
direct message starts off with the bad news and gives reasons for the situation or
decision that is being made. also it gives a good ending to maintain a good relationship
with the audience. Then a indirect negative message helps prepare the readers for the
bad new by outlining the reasons for the situation before delivering. When delivering
negative news within an organization is important to start with a clear message of the
news you are about to deliver. Making sure your subject line is simple and gives the
reader an idea of what they are going to read, and sending the information to the
correct audience. Negative news is not fun to hear or deliver. It is important to give
enough detail based on your judgement and the relationship with your audience. If
appropriate you can give an apology, and most individuals will appreciate your
empathy. Closing your message respectfully, and keeping it honest and genuine will
help maintain your relationship with recipients. It is important to consider your
audience and how the information will affect them directly. What it could hurt them
financially, emotionally, mentally, or even physically. You want to have compassion
and empathy. Your audience may be very important to your company and you want
to deliver the news without being offensive and disrespectful. Some negative news
should be delivered face to face. Some through an email or mobile message. This
usually depends on the urgency or severity of the information. The differences between
an indirect and direct approach are the way you get your audience ready for the news.
Using a buffer you can be indirect and allow your audience to be more accepting of
the news. While delivering negative news in the business setting, it is necessary to be
clear and concise. It will ensure that the chances of misinterpretation and confusion
can be avoided. Similarly, the sender of the news must help the receiver to understand
and accept the news properly. The use of abusive behavior and unprofessional language
must be avoided at all costs.The communicator needs to consider special circumstances
while delivering a negative message so that the interaction will be smooth. For
instance, the privacy of the person must be given top priority so that he will not be
embarrassed. Similarly, the culture and norms followed in an industry must be taken
into consideration while delivering a piece of negative or bad news .The channel of
communication can act as a key factor while delivering negative news in the business
backdrop. For instance, the news relating to the terminating of employees is generally
communicated in a face-to-face manner. Since negative news is generally sensitive in
nature, face-to-face communication is preferred .In an indirect approach for the negative
messages, a positive ‘buffer statement’ is used before sharing the bad news. The
purpose of using the statement is to cushion the bad message. A direct statement for
negative messages does not have such a cushion. Thus, the main message is transferred
to the receiver in a straightforward manner. In other words, the main message starts
with the bad news itself. The direct approach of sharing negative news is used when
a negative outcome is being expected. Special circumstances a communicator needs to
consider when delivering a negative message is to again be clear, concise, accurate and
be well planned on what your are going to say. This will avoid misunderstanding and
ensure that they get through the news without confusion .The way in which me
communicate is important because what we are trying to say can get lost in translation.
If that happens then confrontation, policy disputes, as well as legal issues can come to
the surface. The communication will not mean anything it is delivered and received
the way it was meant to be distributed .The direct approach also produces a more
forceful report. You sound sure of yourself when you state your conclusions confidently
at the outset. Indirect Approach. In the indirect approach, the evidence is presented
first, leading therefore to the main idea. This is an inductive argument. This approach
is best if your audience may be displeased about or may resist what you have to say.
The proper strategies to delivering negative news within an organization consist of five
goals that help you get lower negative feedback. The goals consist of "conveying the
bad news, gain acceptance for it, maintain as much goodwill as possible with your
audience, maintain a good image for your organization, if appropriate to reduce or
eliminate the need for future correspondence on the matter." Planning, writing ,and
completing your message are strategies that you should apply to successfully deliver
your negative news.
