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?
Be direct. Be honest, but be sensitive. Avoid language that attempts to evade responsibility or obscure the issue. In addition, speak in the active voice to show that you accept accountability. For example: “I have reviewed your request for a marketing assistant, but unfortunately I can’t squeeze any more out of the budget this year.”
Use clear language. Too often, unclear statements result in misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Rehearse what you need to say beforehand to prevent making any misleading or vague statements. Use straightforward sentences and language to convey the bad news.
Focus on what can be done. In the midst of a crisis, we often react negatively to the things we cannot control. Or we express what cannot be done. In a bad-news message, focus on the positive, on what can be done. For example, if talking with a customer about a delayed shipment, replace the negative language, “We cannot possibly fill your order by June 19,” with positive language, “We will be able to fill your order by June 30.”
How to Deliver the Bad News Message
Avoid e-mail. If you’ve ever opened an e-mail containing bad news, you may have sensed a lack of respect and empathy, if not blatant passive-aggression. No doubt, e-mail is a highly impersonal method of communicating bad news. Most people can better interpret and accept the bad news message when it is delivered in person.
Use one-to-one dialogue. Face-to-face communication allows for gestures and body language to help in conveying the tone and genuine expression of regret and concern. It also allows for interaction and feedback, and possibly greater acceptance of the bad news. If face-to-face interaction is not available, use the phone. Since the person you are talking to cannot read your body language or see your facial expressions, it is critical that you keep your voice energetic and your tone positive.
Listen. The recipients of the bad news will likely have questions and concerns. Show them that you understand their feelings by focusing on what they’re saying. Take notes, ask clarifying questions, and paraphrase their concerns. For example, say, “I hear you. I know this isn’t easy to accept.”
Be calm and composed. Pay close attention to your behavior and attitude when under stress. It is easy to become consumed with the reactions of others and resort to defensive behaviors. Maintain control and self-monitor your feelings, words, tone of voice, and body language.
The lifeline of any business is an established healthy flow of finances in and out of the cash box, or so to speak. Any event that alters this natural cascade of events leads to a troubled season. As blood is to the body, money is to the business.
According to a study, one of the reasons why a business can fail is poor management. There are many business starters who failed to look into managing properly their business no matter how strong it started. According to Small Business Administration (SBA), “two-thirds of new employer establishments survive at least two years, and 44 percent survive at least four years.” In other words, the 5-year window is very crucial to the success or failure of any business. Just because business started strong doesn’t necessarily guarantee that it will stay through strongly. The major decider will be how business is managed from the opening until the time investors can finally say, “business is smooth sailing, and we’re out of the danger zone.” Unless otherwise, managing the business is the saving grace that may save you enormous heartaches and disappointment.
With today’s fast life and the information highway, life has become much easier and doing business has become relatively easier also. With the internet’s capacity to do the talking and the walking for you and the many support group and other services that you can avail of in a click of a mouse, more and more businesses are sprawling the information highway. All that is required of you is to open up your eyes to a maze of possibilities, indulge and adapt to the changes that have happened which are inherent to the 21st century.
Some guy about half a world away for example is efficiently carrying out business processes through the internet. The United States is the world’s largest economy but look how it does business with some countries like the Philippines for instance. Their processes are taken care of in a remote country some thousands of miles away. In Manila and other Philippine cities, call center and business processing organizations and companies are sprouting like wildfire. Small towns that used to be seeing only hazy days have transformed into busy towns with over 5 call center companies. While this is good for the local economy, it works the same way for the mother company based in the US. Labor fees are much lower in these places than in the US.
So all in all, the world has truly become an interconnection of cultures and people. And with this comes my conclusion that, indeed, the world we are living in is a borderless world. What you are is in one way or the other, innately connected to someone else, to something else, and that your gift might be somebody else’s life in this world—in this borderless world.
Since the advent of the modern commerce becomes the center part of social life, the methods and means to shop are constantly involved in. From the manufacturing innovations to market schemes, there are great advances made each year to attract more and more customers.
Although the consumer economy is booming today, as a shopper, it is OK to be a wise shopper. Your role to be shopper is simply more than to spend your own money. As a matter of fact, your own experience, upbringing, insight also can determine your preference on shopping and direction the manufacturers take.
However which products and how much of them in the market are determined by the need of customers, therefore the your shopping action directly decide the competition. As a shopper, it is the duty to make wise decisions in shopping. Faulty goods you buy would encourage the bad business practices. And on the country, by selecting items carefully according to your research, the manufacturers would be encouraged to improve better and appreciate the hard work and effort to place goods of excellent quality on the shelves.
Does it sound idealistic? But the bottom line for all sellers, marketers and manufacturers is that customers are always right. Every one have his own right to decide how to spend his money. No other advertising, marketing or promotional sales can make you do what you don’t want. And this is the true reason of each individual customer can help shape the healthy industry. To reach this, just need every shopper’s wise choice when he or she take actions. If you do not satisfy with your purchase, you have the right to make a complain, return the goods, ask for refund or an exchange. And every one has the right to get his money worthy.
And now with the diversity of the modern commerce, the ways and means of shopping are diversified. Mail order, TV shopping and shopping online are common today. Being the new ways to shop with great convenience , the online shopping becomes booming now. And there are a strong and promising market in e-commerce. And also it is consumer-centric.
In e-commerce, the comments can be not only put on the purchase but also the sellers. These comments, reviewers and insights can be found and studied, which can make or break a business. And just like this, the reliability and honesty become the center which can be helpful to shape a healthy business environment.
And it is true that e-stores allows user to user transaction such as eBay. That you may know that eBay does not ever sell his own products, the registered users selling goods to each other. The eBay is just like a the market manager which just provide the service for the sellers. And you can though the e-Bay to get some useful information and make your shopping wise.
In a word, the e-commerce almost has the all advantage to shape a healthy direction of industry. And that is probably its booming and promising future relies.