Communicating Difficult News In Tough Times

"We’re going through tough times in our organization and I need to be able to communicate with our employees and stakeholders some of the difficult decisions and changes we are going to make. What’s the best practice in how this should be done?"

First, we know that nothing will get you very far unless you are a principled leader of your business. By that I mean that you have to be able to balance people issues and task issues, and get both done with integrity. Being too task focused during a change only means you end up coercing people, being too people focused means you end up as a cheerleader. Doing both with integrity is what counts.

Provided you have established yourself as a principled leader you can leverage your position to communicate difficult issues with integrity. Think of the communication as something locked away in a vault. Trust is the key you use to unlock the vault and begin the process of sharing the knowledge.

Here are five best practices supported by research and experience. You can think of them as the labels on your keyring, helping you unlock the vault:

1: Understand that people generally follow a predictable path when dealing with change and transitions. Whether the news is good or bad, (but especially if it’s bad), most people go through six responses we can describe as Denial, Anger, Self-Concern, (sometimes accompanied by anxiety, depression and bargaining), Search for Meaning and Options, Testing Alternatives and finally Ownership/Acceptance. Accept the likelihood of each response and prepare for it.

2: Understand what people need to hear at each stage. Tailor the communications to the needs of audience as they move through the typical reactions. At first, they need Awareness of the issues, delivered with dignity and respect. Once they have absorbed the first news, people generally need to have four other messages delivered that raise their Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Rewards during the change. For example, if you are delivering news of restructuring the beginning is to raise the awareness of the need to change, followed by information that starts to deal with people’s denial and anger by raising their desire for a better future.

3: Understand that different stakeholders have different needs. It’s likely that individuals in a business going through a staff reduction will probably need different information to raise their awareness of the need to change. It might depend on whether they are senior executives, employees or customers used to dealing with their favorite staff person. The worst organizations make blanket statements that are subject to misinterpretation. The best organizations carefully craft messages to address what is important for their different stakeholders.

4: Understand that people want to hear the news from their most direct contact. Sure, it’s important that the CEO is seen to be on board and leading the change. In fact it’s very important that they are a model for how people will be treated, (with dignity and respect), and a communicator of the vision of the better future. However, staff want to hear news from their direct supervisor; customers want to hear news from their customer service representative or account manager. It’s the people who are closest to them who will be able to discuss how the news affects them, and it’s these people they will turn to when they need help or resources in the future.

5: Understand that the best practice is to craft the complete plan before taking any action. One of the difficulties in communicating tough messages is that once you have made a decision you feel obliged to act as quickly as practical. Too often this can mean that the messages aren’t as well thought through as they should be and not as tailored as they should be. We’ve all had one of those emails that come down from on high telling us about some major change and leaving us with more questions than they answered. A good plan includes contingencies, and briefing notes that help prepare each person for the key talking points of their message. Good plans include different talking notes for different levels of people, and different audiences, as well as answers to questions that are likely to come up. The best plans include an outline of the entire process that can be adapted as circumstances develop.

Finally, remember that trust is the key. If you are delivering bad news, or even if it’s good news that is going to disrupt the regular order of things, people need to be able to trust that you will see them through the change. Getting things done with people happens more easily, more profitably and more quickly if there is trust. Trust is the essential ingredient: Trust that you are capable; Trust that you are reliable; Trust that you are open, and Trust that your motivations are good.

You can contact me or email me here if you would like more information on building a communication plan that keeps your employees and clients engaged...or click on COMMENTS below to leave a response for others to view.