It's funny how easy and simple it is for us to communicate good news. However, does the same thing happen to us when the news to be communicated is negative? Who hasn't prepared and practiced their "bad news speech” in front of the mirror time and again to choose your words as tactfully as possible? This post aims to provide some practical advice that can help the issuer of the news to learn how to avoid making mistakes when communicating it.
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ToggleBad news in the workplace.
No matter what field we are in, it is never easy to give someone bad news. In fact, it is a complicated task for the one who delivers the news, a skill that requires learning and a lot of empathetic experience.
In the workplace, have you ever found yourself in the situation of having to communicate bad news to a client? It is truly a rather unpleasant situation for both parties and as we well know, we are not born with knowledge and we may not know how to handle it. This causes us to delay the communication, waiting for an ideal moment or circumstance that ends up never coming. The only thing we achieve is to continue stretching the rope and making the situation more and more tense, knowing deep down, and not so deep down, that this uncomfortable conversation will have to happen at some point.
Be very careful not to damage your corporate image.
In the current reality in which we live, we have to take into account that globalization and the viralization of opinions through the digital world are factors that can mean great synergy for companies but also a threat to their corporate image. A bad opinion from a client in a comment through, for example, social networks, can have a great impact on the image of the entity, since we are social beings who trust practically blindly in the opinion of a stranger in the face of an experience. In fact, it is much more likely that a person will trust a negative comment much more than a positive one. We are like that.
A communication failure can lead to excessive reactions from a customer who decides to express his opinion about a company's poor communication skills and/or the bad experience it has caused him. This opinion is accessible to anyone worldwide, which can significantly affect the reputation of the brand in question.
For all these reasons, it is very important to know how to communicate these unpleasant news in order to ease the discomfort and the effect on the client's reaction.
Put yourself in their place.
EMPATHIZE. Have you ever felt like you are not being listened to and you feel a lack of support or the attention you deserve? People are sensitive beings and easily offended. We like to feel cared for, to feel that we contribute something valuable to the conversation, that the rest of the listeners pay attention to us and that they also make an effort to assimilate and understand your words. That is why empathy is absolutely necessary in any communication we have to make.
When communicating bad news, we must first use a neutral and clear tone, trying to convey the news sincerely but being completely direct and transparent. Every problem is different, so it is advisable to adapt our tone and manner to the intensity of the incident.
It is absolutely necessary to be aware of how our client is experiencing this situation. We cannot lose sight of their gestures, their non-verbal actions, which will tell us more about their reaction than the words themselves.
Be understanding of their response, which may lead to a series of questions or complaints that, logically, arise from their own point of view and way of seeing the situation you are explaining to them. One of our biggest mistakes, not only as businesspeople, but as human beings, is to think that other people will feel the same way we would feel when exposed to the same situation. Nothing could be further from the truth; each person has their own internal world, which makes them process the same information in a unique and non-comparable way.
Transmit tranquility and calm with your words and tone.
Numerous psychological studies confirm that when a person receives bad news in a calm, clear and collected manner and subsequently feels listened to and understood, they accept and process negative information in a much less aggressive and more objective way. If we make them understand that we understand them and that we know how to look at the situation from their perspective, we will be able to connect emotionally with our client, obtaining a better response from them.
Try to be approachable.
Proximity is also a relevant factor in this regard. And I am not only referring to the proximity in the tone of your words, but also to physical proximity. We must try to ensure that there are no dividing furniture between the sender and the receiver, and it is important that the eyes of both are at the same height. In this way, we convey to the client that we are not in a position of superiority, eliminating the perception of an imbalance of power.
Sitting also helps to relax the atmosphere in the room. Our muscles relax and our brain can better concentrate on the information it receives. It is true that in a conversation we tend to imitate the posture of our interlocutor, so if the bearer of bad news appears in a relaxed and calm posture, the client will most likely end up unconsciously imitating him, feeling calmer and more peaceful. This is the effect of mirror neurons.
Finally, direct physical contact is not advisable before communicating the news, because our client may perceive that something is not right and begin to experience increasing stress that does not allow him to focus and listen carefully to the information we want to convey. In any case, and whenever we see it appropriate, we can get closer to the client after the conversation in order to comfort or understand.
The time and the place.
Context. Although it may not seem so, the place we choose to express our communications is very important. How many times have we heard, “It was neither the time nor the place to have this conversation." or "I should have waited for a better time to tell him this" or "I don't know how to say it to his face, what if I send it to him in writing on WhatsApp?"We must assume that certain conversations, because of their importance and urgency, must be scheduled at a point in space and time and carried out in person, no matter how difficult it may be for us to face that moment.
It is here where the business centers/coworkings/workspaces offer an excellent opportunity for this type of circumstances. Being able to count on a private room, fully suited to office use, offering comfort and appropriate furniture for each situation, makes it much easier for companies to carry out these meetings. Accustomed to this type of meeting/gathering, the center's staff can create an atmosphere more suitable for the situation. Do not hesitate to comment on the nature of the meeting, as this will allow the team at the space to help you much better. A smile on arrival, a welcome coffee, or a helpful attitude can help lower defensive barriers and allow the message to get through more smoothly.
Finally, here is an interesting video, created by Matías Yabar-Dávila, lawyer, businessman and coach in Social Coach, which deals precisely with what we have been talking about throughout this post: how to give bad news and the importance of sensitivity in softening the reactions of our recipient:
Conclusion…
The most important thing is to remember at all times that we are all human, that we are talking to people like us, who feel and suffer and who deserve to be treated with respect. If we do not forget this, and act under this doctrine, it will be much more likely that we will be able to transmit our message, even if it is bad news, in a much more subtle and less traumatic way.
In fact, let's look at it from another perspective. We could turn the tables. How? Let's imagine that what we need is to correct the attitude of one of our subordinates. We can try to convey our bad news not as a recriminatory message or in a reprimanding tone, but as a motivational message to our colleague, a message that motivates him to fight harder than ever and to ensure that the next meeting you have has as its objective the most sincere congratulations for his effort and collaboration in obtaining such good results.
In short, let's try to think about our interlocutor, and set as our goal to try to turn the bad experience into an opportunity to improve.
