Don’t wait to share bad news

Managing bad news is one of the challenges of delivering large, complex projects. Whilst the majority of issues are ‘small scale’, occasionally there is a ‘large scale’ problem or disaster to deal with.

In my experience, project and delivery people tend to wait before sharing bad news. As problem solvers, their initial reaction is ‘give me some time, I think I can fix this before anyone else needs to know’.

So when is the right time for bad news to be shared?

One risk of failing to communicate on a timely basis is that the people who matter may hear it from someone else first! Executives don’t like surprises so they will challenge why you waited to tell them.

The flow on effects can also be significant – loss of people’s trust, confidence and questions about the way you run your projects.

My key tips on how to manage bad news are –
1. Own the communication. Be decisive on how, when and to whom the news needs to be shared;
2. Share both the problem and the plan. You will gain people’s confidence when you explain the problem AND how you plan on addressing or resolving it;
3. Show that YOU are in control. This alleviates any concerns and maintains people’s confidence in you.