Activity 8.1 | Indirect Bad News Organization<\/sup><\/p>\r\n\r\n Though another candidate was hired for the position this time...<\/em><\/span><\/p>\r\nThe passive voice\u00a0enables you to draw attention away from your own role in rejecting the applicant, as well as away from the rejected applicant in the context of the competition itself. Instead, you focus on the positive of someone getting hired. While the rejected applicant probably won\u2019t be throwing a celebration party for the winning candidate, the subordinate clause here allows for speedy redirection to a consolation prize.\r\n\r\nRedirection is key to this type of bad news\u2019 effectiveness because it quickly shifts the reader\u2019s attention to an alternative to what they were seeking in the first place. Some kind of consolation prize (e.g., a coupon or store credit) helps soothe the pain and will be appreciated as being better than nothing, at least. Even if you\u2019re not able to offer the reader anything of value, you could at least say something nice. In that case, completing the sentence in the previous paragraph with an active-voice main clause could go as follows:\r\n . . . we wish you success in your continued search for employment.<\/em><\/p>\r\nThis way, you avoid saying anything negative while still clearly rejecting the applicant.<\/b>\r\n Key to achieving Goal #2 of delivering bad news\u2014i.e., helping the receiver understand and accept information they don\u2019t want to hear or read\u2014is organizing the message using the indirect approach described above. If you tactlessly deliver the bad news, you run the risk of them rejecting or misunderstanding it because they may be reacting to the news and may be too distracted with anger or sadness to rationally process the explanation or instructions for what to do about the bad news. A doctor never delivers a really serious diagnosis by coming right out and saying \u201cYou have cancer!\u201d first thing. Instead, they try to put a positive spin on the results (\u201cIt could be worse\u201d), discuss test results in detail, talk about treatment options, and only then come around to telling the patient the bad news. At that point, being clear about the bad news ensures that the receiver understands the gravity of the situation and is therefore motivated to follow through on the therapeutic recommendations given earlier. Key to avoiding misunderstandings when delivering bad news, then, is the following four-part organization illustrated in Activity 8.1.<\/p>\nMessage Buffer<\/h3>\r\nBegin with neutral or positive statements that sets a welcoming tone and serve as a buffer<\/strong> for the information to come. A buffer softens the blow of bad news like the airbag in a car softens the driver\u2019s collision with the steering wheel in a high-speed car accident. If there is any positive news that can calm the receiver, here at the beginning would be a good time to point them out. The following are some possible buffer strategies:\r\n
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Justification<\/h3>\r\nThe justification<\/strong> explains the background or context for the bad news before delivering the bad news itself. Let\u2019s say that you must reject an application, claim for a refund, or request for information. In such cases, the explanation could describe the strict acceptance criteria and high quality of applications received in the competition, the company policy on refunds, or its policy on allowable disclosures and the legalities of contractually obligated confidentiality, respectively. Your goal with the explanation is to be convincing so that the reader says, \u201cThat sounds reasonable\u201d and similarly accepts the bad news as inevitable given the situation you describe. On the other hand, if you make the bad news seem like mysterious and arbitrary decision-making, your audience will probably feel like they\u2019ve been treated unfairly and might even escalate further with legal action or avenge the wrong in social media. While an explanation is ethically necessary, never admit or imply responsibility without written authorization from your company cleared by legal counsel if there\u2019s any way that the justification might be seen as actionable (i.e., the offended party can sue for damages).\r\n\r\nUse additional strategies to make the justification more agreeable such as focusing on benefits. If you\u2019re informing employees that they will have to pay double for parking passes next year in an attempt to reduce the number of cars filling up the parking lot, you could sell them on the health benefits of cycling to work or the environmental benefit of fewer cars polluting the atmosphere. If you\u2019re informing a customer asking why a product or service can\u2019t include additional features, you could say that adding those features would drive the cost up and you would rather respect your customer\u2019s pocketbooks by keeping the product or service more affordable. In any case, try to pitch an agreeable, pro-social or progressive benefit rather than saying that you\u2019re merely trying to maximize company or shareholder profits.\r\n
Bad News and Redirection<\/h3>\r\nBurying the bad news itself in the message is a defining characteristic of the indirect approach. It is akin to the \u201csandwich technique\u201d of constructive criticism sandwiched, where the critique is sandwiched between statements of praise. Far from intending to hide the bad news, the indirect approach frames the bad news so that it can be properly understood and its negative (depressing or anger-arousing) impact minimized.\r\n\r\nThe goal is also to be clear in expressing the bad news so that it isn\u2019t misunderstood while also being sensitive to your reader\u2019s feelings. If you\u2019re rejecting a job applicant, for instance, you can be clear that they didn\u2019t get the job without bluntly saying \u201cYou failed to meet our criteria\u201d or \u201cYou won\u2019t be working for us anytime soon.\u201d Instead, you can clearly imply it by putting the bad news in a subordinate clause in the passive voice:\r\n
Positive Action Closing<\/h3>\r\nAs we\u2019ve seen in previous explorations of message organization, the closing here involves action information. If your redirection involves some alternative, such as a recommendation to apply elsewhere, some follow-up details here would help the reader focus on the future elsewhere rather than getting hung up on you and your company\u2019s decision. Your goals here are the following\r\n
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[h5p id=\"7\"]<\/h3>\r\nActivity 8.2 | Indirect Negative News Message<\/span><\/sup>","rendered":"
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