CONVEYING BAD NEWS TO YOUR BOSS

Conveying bad news to someone is never a fun thing to do. When you are conveying that news to your boss, it becomes an even more stressful situation for you - particularly if the news has a negative impact on the financial health of the business or includes the loss of a key client.

Preparing in advance to meet with your boss will go a long way in helping to communicate bad news. Thorough analysis of the problem, its causes, and the solution should be undertaken as quickly as possible. A few simple strategies will make the conversation more easily understood and digested by your boss.

1. Summarize the issue and the situation clearly and concisely. Include pertinent details only if necessary in the preliminary discussion. You want to immediately get to the point to avoid building anxiety and undue frustration from your boss.

2. Expect that your boss will have questions and interrupt you as you talk. Allow him to do this and respond as clearly as possible to his questions.

3. Prepare for the meeting with your boss by having information regarding the potential financial, operational, and sales impact on the company.

4. Have a clearly defined plan of action for resolving the immediate problem, evaluating the existing processes that caused the issue, and a timeline for making adjustments to current training, policies, and procedures to avoid the problem in the future.

No one likes to share bad news and no one likes to receive bad news. It is important to mitigate the circumstances by carefully evaluating the issue and identifying both short and long-term remedies to avoid future occurrences. That does not mean it will always be easy or that your boss will always remain calm. But by equipping yourself with the knowledge and plans for problem-resolution and moving forward, you will gain the trust and confidence of your boss and you will become a more valuable employee.

Learn more about this author, Zoey Day.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about How to tell your boss bad news?
We want to hear your view. Write now!