It's your job during the coronavirus pandemic to find a less awful way to give bad news, such as layoffs, pay cuts and business struggles.
tasked with sharing bad news, it can be hard to start this type of difficult conversation with colleagues. But part of your job as a team leader is to make it less awful.
“Every instinct in us is to run away from strong emotions, and you’ve got to be prepared to be the one who bears witness.”As an example of how not being upfront is a mistake, Scott shared her own past experience laying off a colleague who was a new parent. “Instead of cutting right to the point, I said, ‘How are you? How’s the baby?’ He went on this beautiful monologue,” she said. “It made the conversation much harder. I burst into tears when I said, ‘But I have terrible news to deliver.
Instead of cloaking the news in corporate metaphors, give details about why you came to the decision if you were involved in it, said Susan Heathfield, a human resources consultant. Doing this right could sound like, “We considered these five options before we reached this conclusion. All managers were involved,” Heathfield said.Hopeful promises can feel good to say in the moment, but they are not useful to your colleague if they are not specific or true.
If someone asks if the company is going to have layoffs again, Scott said you cannot make promises you cannot keep. If you are doing the meeting over video, don’t convey the bad news as a disembodied voice or with a message on a screen, either, Hogan said. Leave the camera on, and make sure your face or that of whoever is delivering the bad news is visible, she said.
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