Sample no. 6

Delivering bad newsDelivering 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 solutionThe revision below right shows an approach we call PACER—a way of sequencing your remarks in a carefully measured fashion.

REVISION

to: StaffSUBJECt: Vacation Time

Staff:

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.

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.

ORIGINAL EmAIL

to: StaffSUBJECt: Vacation Time

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.

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.

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