{"id":1460,"date":"2013-07-01T11:41:13","date_gmt":"2013-07-01T09:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/02086ee2.kundenrechner.net\/?p=1460"},"modified":"2018-06-06T12:29:53","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T10:29:53","slug":"writing-emails-giving-bad-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/writing-emails-giving-bad-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Emails: Giving Bad News"},"content":{"rendered":"

When giving bad news in an email, it\u2019s extremely important to communicate ideas clearly and respectfully. In the email below, Carl Lane has been forced to give his colleagues some very bad news. Mr Lane does some things well in this email, but there are also some things he can improve. Read the email, and then read our tips for giving bad news in written form.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sample email:<\/span><\/h3>\n

Dear colleagues,<\/em><\/p>\n

As manager of the TURN project since 2008, it has been my pleasure to share in your success and watch the development of the project from the very beginning. All of us have worked hard and shared in TURN\u2019s success. Now, I am faced with the most difficult task I have had as manager of this project. We received this news one month ago, but wanted to wait until we felt the time was right to deliver it.<\/em><\/p>\n

I am very sorry to inform you that the project has been canceled effective July 1st, 2013. As of then, all project positions, including assistant and secretarial, are terminated.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are many factors involved with the cancellation of our project: our failure to secure the PX19 contract, the recent 10% increase in material cost and a 30% drop in Sales were all involved. Every employee of the company knew these developments were negative in terms of our bottom line, a fact that the Board communicated via company-wide email in December, 2012. Despite these difficult circumstances, every member of our team worked diligently to help our project succeed.<\/em><\/p>\n

I would like to thank you for your hard work over these past five years. If you have any questions regarding this very unfortunate news, please do not hesitate to get in touch.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/em>
\n Carl Lane<\/em>
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n

\"Writing

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He writes respectfully (but not too formally). Employees should always treat each other with respect, but at a difficult time like this, it\u2019s especially important for the team to know that their work was appreciated. It\u2019s also important to use the correct level of formality. Too formal and you can sound rude. Not formal enough and it can seem like you\u2019re not taking the situation seriously enough.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He states the reasons for the cancellation. This is major news, and the employees deserve to know the causes for the change. It should never be left to the employees to speculate about what happened.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He mentions written records of past performance. Mr Lane mentions the memo written by the Board in December. Even though they didn\u2019t save the project in the end, it\u2019s important for employees to know management was aware of the problem and working to solve it.<\/p>\n

Things to avoid or do better in your emails:<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t address other people affected by the news. Mr Lane says that employee positions are canceled, but he doesn\u2019t mention any of the other people who might be affected by the cancellation. This could include clients and investors.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t mention anything positive. The news is bad and there is no hint of a future for the members of the project. Is the company possibly looking for other investors or is there a chance the project could be saved? Employees might be confused by this lack of mention of the future.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He didn\u2019t deliver the news immediately. Unfortunately, Mr Lane waited to deliver the news. Perhaps the company wanted to see if the situation would improve, but the employees deserved to be informed about the situation.<\/p>\n

Giving bad news is never easy, but by keeping the above guidelines in mind, your bad news letter can be written in an effective, respectful way. For more tips on this sensitive subject, please check out this link<\/a>. Do you have something to add to this post? We\u2019d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION<\/h2>\n

If you’re looking for phrases, tips and tricks and useful downloads related to this topic, start here<\/a>. In a range of topics, here are some more links for you:<\/p>\n