In the HBR Blog post by Peter Bregman, “How to start a conversation you are dreading,” Bregman talks about how to best deliver not only disappointing news, but decisions overall. First.
While many of us may hesitate to deliver the punch line, Bregman provides several examples where delivering the resolution first is key- with a single employee or to a team.
Waiting till the last minute causes one of two situations:
1) It makes the decision seem unclear. Not delivering the outcome first, causes confusion with your team. By delivering the decision first you are defining the outcome and giving clarity so the employee knows where the conversation is going. By doing this, you can follow-up with appropriate evidence to support the news.
2) It allows your team to question factors relating to the decision. Giving the facts before the decision, can side track your team or audience and open the door to debate. Therefore, ending the conversation before you deliver the final outcome.
Lesson learned: if their is a conversation you are dreading, or one resulting an important decision- deliver the resolution first. This will eliminate any confusion with your employee(s).
We recently went through several layoffs, and I remember thinking how awkward the delivery from our leadership team was. Instead of making the announcement upfront and then supporting that decision, they went through this really drawn out celebration of sorts to try and make everyone happy about the changes (at least I think that was their intent). We all already knew what the meeting was really for, so why not just deliver the bad news upfront? I think your article is a good thing to keep in mind when delivering news in general….it may not always be the best route to take, but more often than not, I think most people would prefer to hear the punchline first vs waiting anxiously.
This reminds me of our teachings from Noonan and Smith for MP for building a slide deck for the client: news up front in the first few slides, even sooner if it’s bad news.
@Nancy, two years ago our company had layoffs, as well, and just like yours, it was a celebration of change and how we’d all be better off. Fast-forward to present day and we’re still grinding (perhaps something to celebrate?) and I still feel worse off than better off. Tear the band-aid.
This is good insight and can also be applied to tasks and functions we dread as well. I’ve heard it called “swallowing the frog” in some cases. Tackling a looming and dreaded task or responsibility quickly can make days and weeks more productive.
This article provides great insight. I think the culture in some ways tries to avoid being uncomfortable to the point that it complicates matters. People don’t like to have the hard conversations, when if the necessary statements are made up front, a lot of time and frustration could be saved.