Communicating Bad News

Scenario: You are a middle manager at a large technology organization, and leadership has informed you that the company will be going through a reorganization. The company has been losing revenue for too long and immediate action is necessary. A mass downsizing is impending.

Your job is not in jeopardy. However, you will lose team members in the downsizing. Your team members are panicked and you need to step up to address the issue with them. You also need to maintain productivity and results.

You call a meeting to discuss this with your team. This is not an easy message to communicate.

Considering the course materials for this week, discuss your approach by addressing the questions below: 

• What is your communication strategy with your team?
• How often will you provide communication with your team about updates? Remember, you need to keep them informed, but not panicked.
• How will you get your key message across while keeping your team productive?  
• What can you do to reduce the challenges of distraction and the rumor mill for your team?

Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates’ initial posts by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.

1st response

 RE: Week 6 Discussion

COLLAPSE

Communicating Bad News

Organizations usually experience changes that bring about the disruption of the working environment, impacting even the employees. For example, the process of reorganization creates many disruptions in almost all firm departments, which has an outcome that affects the working personnel. For this reason, organizations must understand what it means to approach change and ensure that the changes do not leave an adverse impact on employees. Managers are the main parties responsible for ensuring the working personnel is informed about such changes as reorganization. Nonetheless, the passage of information to employees requires applying a communication strategy that suits the exchange. Particularly, the communication of bad news is easily done if the manager creates a communication strategy.

Communication Strategy

Several communication strategies can be used in communicating bad news in organizations. However, the communication strategy that I would use as a middle manager entails three aspects, including knowing my audience, assuming responsibility, and being accessible. To begin with, knowing my audience refers to understanding my team members and how they act as the core step in communicating bad news. Understanding that they have different personalities will help me carefully approach the information process (Carey, 2014). Secondly, assuming responsibility involves being ready to answer the team members’ questions and being accountable for the circumstances. Lastly, the communication strategy requires me to be accessible by ensuring I attend to employee concerns and offer constructive feedback.

Providing Updates Timeline

The introduction of changes in an organization comes with a period of uncertainty among team members, which may undermine their efforts in performance. Such circumstances call for a constant updating of the employees and letting them know what is happening in the firm. For this reason, as a middle manager, I will do everything I can to provide my team members with a weekly update regarding the reorganization. Additionally, I will tell them to be ready for some changes that may not be what they expected.

Getting my Key Message Across

Getting my message across depends on the things I will do as I attempt to communicate with my team members. For example, I will have to be as specific as possible regarding what is happening in the organization and what may happen in the future. Being specific lets, the members know what is happening and how it will turn out. Secondly, being inclusive when providing employees with updates about the situation will be helpful in ensuring that every member gets the intended message. Being inclusive is beneficial because it shows the team members that they matter and the organization is thinking about them. Additionally, I will also attempt to connect with them emotionally while passing the information.

Reducing Distraction and the Rumor Mill

Rumors and certain distractions may come up in an organization during transformation, mostly fueled by a climate of uncertainty. However, reducing these elements is easy if a manager commits to the process. First, I will ensure I set an example to the team members by providing them with confirmed top-level management information. I will avoid talking about things I am unsure of and stick to what is true (Schwantes, 2017). Secondly, I will encourage the members to have positive information-sharing rather than distractions and rumors. Furthermore, enacting zero-tolerance policies on rumors and other distractions can minimize them.

References

Carey, R. (2014, March 07). Crisis Communication Strategies for Managing Negative Events. Retrieved 26 January 2021 from https://www.middlemarketcenter.org/expert-perspectives/3-crisis-communication-strategies-for-managing-negative-events

Schwantes, M. (2017). Ways to Get Rid of Workplace Gossip Immediately. Retrieved 26 January 2021 from https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/if-you-do-these-things-you-qualify-as-a-gossiper-which-research-says-can-ruin-yo.html

2nd Response

 RE: Week 6 DiscussionCOLLAPSE

Hello Professor Leighton-Lucas and Classmates,

Let me start by saying I have been in this situation before. I have had many positions throughout my life, so it seems that I have experienced many things, as I have. This conversation is never easy and being on the receiving end is even worse. You worry and wonder if your productivity has been good enough to keep your job. Some organizations are bad at communicating in non-crisis situations and worse during an actual crisis. Downsizing creates anxiety and impacts morale and productivity, ultimately affecting the customer (Bell,1).

The communication strategy would be first to start with the company’s vision and its determination to stay competitive in the market. Understanding why the organization is downsizing and what the other options were besides eliminating staff. Communicating all of this to my team before the news goes public and reaches social media will help combat some of the uncertainty. Once the information goes public, the employees with panic. As their manager, I need to be truthful, consistent, and present. If I stay calm, it will ease their fears and the pressure of the situation. I also must let the team know that I understand their struggle and frustrations and ensure them that communication is ongoing, and I will be truthful and keep them in the loop as details become available (Bell, 1).

Corporate layoffs are unfortunately common and indicate political or economic instability or both (Nystrom, 2). Companies will help employees who were let go but will forget about the employees that remain with the company. These employees still must be motivated and productive despite dealing with heightened pressure to perform. If they are not motivated and their concerns are not addressed, they may seek other employment opportunities. I would help my team stay motivated and productive by enhancing transparency and spending more time listening and interacting with them while having an open-door policy for visibility. I would emphasize how valued they are while setting new goals and redistributing the responsibilities not to get employees overwhelmed. Holding team building activities to help release the stress and anxiety would give temporary relief (Nystrom, 2).  

Working to keep employees productive and motivated while keeping rumors away would be difficult. Rumors can be more debilitating than the truth, and they have a way of stirring negative emotions (Watson, 3). The best way to not allow rumors to control the situation is to get ahead of the stories with communication and clear facts to the team.  Maintaining a level of control while projecting positivity, shows your team that you are optimistic, and they should also be.

1. C.M.Bell. January 11, 2018. 14 Tips on Communicating with Employees During Layoffs, Mergers, or Other Times of Change. https://www.cmbell.com/blog/2018/1/11/14-tips-on-using-internal-communication-to-preserve-employee-engagement-during-layoffs-or-other-hard-times
2. Michelle Nystrom. February 24, 2020. Keeping the Remaining Team Motivated During Tough Times. https://www.cmbell.com/blog/2018/1/11/14-tips-on-using-internal-communication-to-preserve-employee-engagement-during-layoffs-or-other-hard-times
3. Steven A. Watson. June 17, 2003. Sharing Info and Defusing Rumors Helps Keep Staff Motivated During Layoffs. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/sharing-info-and-defusing-rumors-helps-keep-staff-motivated-during-layoffs/

JWI505: Business Communications and Executive Presence

Week 6 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 1 of 8

Strategic Communication

What It Means

Imagine that your boss has given you a new responsibility. They want you to lead a team on a
major project initiative. Your first move is to meet with your team. You tell them that you want
all of their input, that you will always be open with them, and that you will all win. You fill your
talk with lofty rhetoric that sounds very inspirational. You end the meeting feeling good about
what you have accomplished…but what exactly did you accomplish? Not long afterward, your
team members come to you with a slew of questions: How big is this project? What project
areas are we responsible for? What exactly are we supposed to be doing?

In your attempt to motivate your team, you left several critical components out of your
message. You never explicitly stated what the team is working toward. You never explained
what your objectives are or what success looks like. You did not even tell them why they were
completing the project in the first place. In short, you did not communicate strategically.

In this lecture, you will learn how to create a strong communication strategy. We will discuss
how to craft messages that are aligned with your mission. We will also explore how to analyze
your audiences and how to tailor your communications to different groups of colleagues.

Why It Matters

• Messages that are poorly organized or unclear cannot reach your intended
audience.

• Clearly established and communicated goals reinforce your mission and values.

• A comprehensive communication strategy will align your team and get every brain in
the game.

“People work better when they know what the goal is and why.”

Elon Musk

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 6 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 2 of 8

What Is Strategic Communication?

You have probably heard the phrase “strategic communication” multiple times. But, like
“executive presence,” the term has several definitions. It is most commonly used in a public
relations or marketing capacity. For our purposes, we will discuss the term as it relates to
internal communication: strategic communication is delivering your message effectively in
support of your objectives. It is letting your listeners know exactly what your vision and
desired outcomes are. It involves clearly linking your aims to your mission. Strategic
communication is, at its core, explicitly goal-oriented messaging.

Clearly, developing a communication strategy involves more than just delivering a message. It
entails knowing exactly what you want to achieve, what your message needs to include, who
your listeners are, what your listeners’ values are, and what the best means of delivery is. In
short, you need to consider five factors:

• Objective
• Content
• Audience
• Culture
• Medium

That is a lot to think about, but each factor plays a significant role in determining how
successful your communication will be. Let us delve into each one.

Objective

In business, you never just write for the sake of writing. You want to accomplish something.
Perhaps you want to tell your audience about a new policy or product, or perhaps you want to
persuade them to complete a task. Maybe you just want to motivate your listeners and
congratulate them on a successful business venture. Your objective, whatever it may be, is the
primary reason you are communicating. This is the most important piece of information for your
listeners. They will give you their immediate attention, but only if you convey this information

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 6 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 3 of 8

very directly. As Laura Brown puts it in this week’s readings, you must “get the ask clear.”1

“The ask” is essentially the thesis of your message. You have probably read countless emails
from colleagues that were long, convoluted, and full of unnecessary details. By the time you
were done reading, you thought to yourself, “What am I supposed to take from this?” To avoid
this in your own communication, spell out your thesis clearly. You should be able to write, in one
sentence, precisely what you want your listeners to take away from your message. Alternatively,
you can pinpoint your ask by completing this fill-in-the-blank statement: “This communication will
be successful if _______________.”

Spelling out your objective lets listeners know what you want from them. It also helps set the
tone for the rest of your message. Based on what you need, you will use a particular
communication style that will lead to the outcome you want. Social psychologist Rensis Likert
developed a series of management styles that you can use to craft your communications:

• Tell. You state facts and inform your listeners what needs to happen. You are not asking
for buy-in or feedback. This style is useful when you need to quickly share information or
when there is no time to discuss matters.

• Sell. You are trying to inspire your listeners. You are offering something you hope they
will buy. You should use this style in complex scenarios where your listeners have not
been able to decide on a plan of action. We will explore this style more in our lesson on
the art of persuasion.

• Consult. You are the ultimate decision maker, but you need others’ input to inform your

decision. You solicit feedback on issues that affect your listeners. This style tends to
produce holistic solutions.

• Join. You are not the sole decision maker; your listeners will be actively involved

throughout the process. You will all slowly migrate to a shared consensus about a
course of action. This style is particularly powerful because it facilitates full buy-in from
each of your listeners.

1 Laura Brown, The Only Business Writing Book You’ll Ever Need (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2019),
11-20.

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 6 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 4 of 8

Content

Once you establish exactly why you are delivering a message, you must then give your
messaging substance. You have told your listeners what your objective is. Now, you need to
give them the information they need to help you fulfill that objective.

The best way to start is to determine what your listeners need to know. Imagine you are the
CEO of a tech hardware company. The company produces a circuit board that has been the
source of several customer complaints. Your quality control team needs to check the circuit
board’s design, which will require a change in their procedure. You need to communicate with
the team about why this change is necessary. You know what your objective is: tell the quality
control team to change their procedure. You know your communication will succeed if your
listeners change the procedure and understand why they are changing it. You also know you
will use the Tell communication style. Now, what content do your listeners need to know? They
should know:

• What the procedure change will be
• Why the change is necessary
• Who will oversee the change

Focusing on these three points will streamline your message; the audience should not have to
hear a massive amount of information that does not pertain to them. For instance, your listeners
do not need to hear you blame them for the circuit board’s poor quality. Making accusations is a
quick way to create discontent among the team. You want them focused on fixing their
procedure, not worried about whether they will be fired. Your listeners do not need to know
about your other products. Those products have no effect on your current message. Your
listeners also do not need to hear about the other procedure options you considered. You did
not choose them, so they are irrelevant to your message.

Once you know your main points, order them so that they flow logically. For example, if you are
writing an email or a memo, consider organizing your paragraphs using the BLUF method, or
“bottom line up front.” This places your big ideas at the beginning of your paragraphs, ensuring
that readers know exactly what to take away from each one. Then, explain why you are making
your ask, why your listeners need to act, and how they should act.

At the end of your message, remind your listeners what needs to happen. Think of your

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 6 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 5 of 8

message as an arc: you will begin and end on the same note, but the other components of the
communication should build on each other. This ensures your content is comprehensive while
also being easy to follow.

Audience

Even if you have never met or spoken to your listener before, you have to create a rapport with
them. Your message has to make sense to them, and they need to understand your objective
right away. Therefore, you have to craft your message specifically for them. To understand your
listeners’ point of view, Brown reminds us of three key factors:

• Relationship. How closely do you interact with these listeners? What are their roles
relative to you? Will you be engaging in vertical, hierarchical communication? Or are you
speaking to your peers, or horizontally?

• Information. Do your listeners know a lot about the topic you are communicating about?
Is there some additional knowledge they need to know before fulfilling your objective?

• Attitude. How do you think your listeners will respond to your communication? What

questions or feelings will they have?

Brown also recommends you fill in the blanks to these two statements:

• “My purpose is to ______________ so that my [listener] will ______________.”
• “My [listener] needs to understand ___________ to be able to do that.”2

Let us return to our example of the tech hardware company. In terms of relationship, you
probably interact with the quality control team, or at least the head of the team, fairly often. You
are the CEO, so the team will do what you ask. You can be direct and forthright, but your
message does not have to be forceful. In terms of information, the team is comprised of experts
who know everything about your circuit boards. They probably know even more than you!
Therefore, you do not have to waste time explaining exactly how the circuit boards work. You
also do not have to remind them what the current procedure is. And in terms of attitude, you
know the team will follow your directions. But because the company has been receiving

2 Brown, Business Writing, 21-39.

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 6 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 6 of 8

complaints about the circuit boards, the team will likely be anxious. Enforcing a procedure
change could sound punitive, even if you are not actively looking to blame anyone. You need to
reassure them that the procedure change is not meant to punish, but to ensure your circuit
boards are high quality.

Remembering all of these factors – who your listeners are, what they know, how they feel – will
ensure you are communicating directly and effectively to them. It is also a terrific demonstration
of your empathy. You are showing you care about your listeners enough to craft your message
around them and their response.

Culture

Think back to our lesson on intercultural communication. You know that, when you
communicate across cultures, you have to consider a vast array of differences between you and
your listeners. There are subtleties, nuances, and intangible factors that can drastically alter
how your message is received. The same principle holds true in strategic communication. Even
if you do not have to account for geographic differences, there are other distinctions to bear in
mind. Different industries, organizations, and even work groups will have different cultures.

For our tech hardware company, the quality control team’s culture will affect how they receive
your message. Let us assume the team is a relaxed group. There is a hierarchy, but team
members can address each other – and their bosses – by their first names. Team members are
not individually oriented; group decisions matter more than each person’s own decisions. With
this in mind, you would not send an overly formal email to the group. You can be informal in
tone while still being direct in your message. You would also direct your communication to the
entire group, not just the head of the team. This way, everyone on the quality control team will
know exactly what is expected of them. They will also respond in a cooperative fashion; for this
team, changing their procedure is a group project.

Consider all of the cultural details that you need to account for. How relaxed are your listeners?
Do they collaborate on a lot of work, or is it “everyone for themselves?” If you have multiple
listeners, how close-knit are they? How direct do you have to be? What can you do to enhance
your credibility? These questions may not have easy answers, but you must address them
before you send your message.

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 6 Lecture Notes

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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 7 of 8

Medium

Scholar Marshall McLuhan famously observed that “the medium is the message.” How you send
a message is just as important as what the message contains, sometimes even more so. Think
about it. In grade school, students learn how to add and subtract numbers. Some students learn
faster than others, but not necessarily because they are smarter. It is more likely because they
are taught in a more accessible way, or in a way that better suits their learning style. In the
business world, your listeners will respond differently to different media.

For our tech hardware company example, you should take into account factors like the size of
the quality control team. If it is a big group, you will not meet with each team member
individually. That would take a lot of time, and some listeners might interpret your message
differently from others. You could call a group meeting or give a presentation, but remember,
you want them to enact a procedure change. That needs to stick in their minds, and the change
will probably be very detailed. Unless you have complex handouts, or unless everyone is taking
notes, a big meeting may overwhelm your listeners. Your best option, in this case, is to email
the team with your ask. You can explain precisely what the procedure change will entail, and
your listeners will have a written record of what they need to do.

When choosing a means of delivery, you should consider issues like how many listeners you
have and what responses you want. Written communication is preferable for sending detailed
messages to larger audiences. You would use email if you do not want to take up too much
time, or if you want all of your recipients to have the exact same copy of your message. A big
presentation is a great medium if you want to solicit feedback or group involvement. Everybody
receives your message at the same time. If you only need feedback from one particular person,
an individual meeting will suffice. As we have learned, talking with somebody one on one is a
great medium for building strong interpersonal relationships. You can also better convey
emotions through a face-to-face discussion as opposed to a memo.

Looking Ahead

In this lecture, we explored the elements of a comprehensive communication strategy. We
discussed the five components of a strategy and how each one affects how your messages are
crafted and received. One last note to remember is that, whenever you put together a message,
do not just deliver it right away. Look over your main points. If you are writing an email or a

JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 6 Lecture Notes

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copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.

JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 8 of 8

memo, read it out loud to yourself twice. Ask yourself if you are missing anything or if anything is
unclear. Think about how you would respond to this message if you were the listener or reader.
And of course, if there are any spelling or grammatical errors, make sure you fix them!

In the next lecture, you will learn more about one of the communication styles you use most
frequently in business – persuasion. We will explore how to use narratives to enhance your
messages, how to “hook” your audience, and how to generate support for your proposals and
ideas.