THE BEARER OF BAD NEWS
CONSIDER THE DILEMMA
“We nailed it! I’m glad that’s over. Now it’s all about spring break!” Clayton exclaims as the team exchanges enthusiastic nods and smiles. As the community outreach director for the Silver City Parks Department, you and a group of three local college interns—Desiree, Clayton, and JC—just finished presenting to departmental staff a Web site redesign to market after-school recreation programs.
As you watch them talk about how great they think the presentation went, you think back to their first week together. At that time you weren’t sure they would ever be a cohesive team. Clayton was the most outgoing but very self-absorbed. Desiree—although extremely shy—came highly recommended by her graphic design teacher. JC was ambitious but preoccupied with recent family troubles. You invested a lot of time getting the students to work as a team, and the Web site redesign had been especially important in bringing them together.
“Do you think the staff liked the design?” JC inquires.
“Hard to tell, but I meet with Mr. Jackson on Monday morning to find out,” you reply.
“Text us as soon as you know something,” Desiree says, as they walk out of the building to begin their spring break.
Monday morning brings bad news. “The staff hated it,” Mr. Jackson says just as you sit down in his office. “Here’s a list of things you need to fix ASAP before the site can go live.” When you remind Mr. Jackson that the interns are on spring break, he replies, “Not a problem. Have Hernandez help you out.”
“But the students put a lot of time into the design, and they’re anxious to know what the staff thought. I’d like a chance to . . .” you begin to protest.
Mr. Jackson interrupts, “Send them an e-mail. Tell them it was a good effort, but we’re going in a different direction. It happens.” Stunned and angry, you get up and leave the office.
CONNECT THE RESEARCH
Being a leader means handling difficult tasks, such as providing negative feedback to group members about their work. In order to competently communicate unpleasant messages, a leader has to successfully balance two goals: (1) help those who receive negative feedback maintain a positive face, and (2) maintain a trustworthy and capable impression with the group. To do this, a leader should carefully consider how to form the message and which communication channel to use to deliver it (Kingsley Westerman & Westerman, 2010).
First, leaders should create face-saving messages, in which they frame unpleasant messages in a way that softens the impact of bad news (“Perhaps the design expectations weren’t entirely clear, but the new Web site design needs additional work”). Face-saving messages are more likely to be perceived as nonthreatening by a receiver than would a message that is too direct (“Your design is unacceptable”) (Kingsley Westerman & Westerman, 2010). Such messages can help receivers accept the criticism and move forward.
Second, the communication channel used to deliver the message (face-to-face or online) matters. When leaders give unpleasant feedback in person rather than through mediated communication, they are seen as more competent, and the message is perceived as less threatening. This may be because face-to-face communication provides access to nonverbal cues that are important for developing empathy as well as for giving the recipient an opportunity to ask clarifying questions.
COMMUNICATE
Before making a communication choice, consider the facts of the situation, and think about the research on managing impressions and communication channels. Also, reflect on what you’ve learned so far about leadership styles (pp. 288–292) and communication climates (p. 294). Then answer these questions:
What responsibility do you have to immediately share the feedback with your interns? How would you respond if any of them text-messaged you wanting an update?
What is the potential impact on team cohesiveness if you share the feedback via e-mail? What do you risk by waiting until the students return?
How are you going to break the news?