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Sample no. 6

Delivering bad news

Delivering bad news is always tricky. The challenge here is twofold:
1) Limiting the damage to the relationship;
2) Establishing a basis for moving forward.

Most common blunders

• Failing to express understanding, sympathy, or regret.
• Trying to deliver the bad news and the explanation for it all at once.
• Sending an email for news that should be expressed in person—e.g.,
laying off or firing an employee.

Recommended solution
The revision below right shows an approach we call PACER—a way of
sequencing your remarks in a carefully measured fashion.

ORIGINAL email REVISION

to: Staff to: Staff

SUBJECT: Vacation Time SUBJECT: Vacation Time

Staff: Staff:

Effective immediately, any vacation time
that has not been previously scheduled will
not be granted due to the large increase in
call volume and the reduced level of avail-
able staff to answer those calls.
If you were thinking of scheduling vacation
time in the near future, I’m afraid I have
bad news. Effective immediately—and until
further notice—any vacation time not previ-
ously scheduled will not be granted.

This was a difficult decision for us to reach,
but it appears to be the only one available
at the present time (short of scheduling
required overtime). If you have previ-
ously scheduled vacation time with your
supervisor, you will not be affected by this
decision. We are asking those associates
who may need incidental vacation time to
schedule those days at a later time when
call volumes have returned to normal.
We thank you in advance for your flexibility
and teamwork during this critical time
period. We hope to lift this temporary policy
as quickly as possible. If you have any
questions, please contact me.
We realize how disappointing this news
will be to many of you, and we did not
make this decision lightly. The problem is
the large increase in call volume and the
reduced level of available staff to answer
those calls. For the time being, this move
appears to be the only one available to
us—short of scheduling required overtime,
which we all want to avoid.
If you have already scheduled vacation
time with your supervisor, you are not
affected. But if you are seeking incidental
vacation time, we recommend that you join
us in watching closely our call volumes. As
soon as they return to normal, we’ll lift this
temporary policy and schedule those much-
needed vacations.

In the meantime, we thank you for your flex-

ibility during this critical period.

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