Delivering bad news, whether communicating up, down, or across the organization, is a difficult task. Two questions often come to mind on this dilemma:
(1) How to structure the bad news message and
(2) How to communicate the bad news.
How to Structure the Bad News Message
Answer the tough questions up front. The best way to structure a bad news message is to answer the tough questions up front. For example, if a manager must announce layoffs, he should answer his employees’ specific questions first rather than beat around the bush. The employees’ questions will likely be: How does this affect me? What is my severance package? When will this take place?