Communicating Bad News at Work – Part 2

Chances are you’ve read or heard more bad news on the jobs front over the last week. There’s no getting around it, things are tough out there for employers and employees alike, and are likely to remain so for the short term. Sooner or later in your working life your going to encounter bad news, and, if you’re progressing in your career, and are responsible for a team of people, the job of communicating that bad news to others is going to fall on your shoulders. This week we continue with our tips to help make passing on bad news at work a little less painful for everyone involved.

  • Speed and consistency are paramount: when you’re communicating bad news you can’t rely on the trickle-down approach to spread the word — have a plan for getting a consistent, coherent message to all relevant people in the organisation as soon as possible once the news breaks. The last thing you want is delays feeding rumour and speculation.
  • A little compassion goes a long way: you’re probably sorry to be the bearer of bad news, and genuinely regret the circumstances that make it necessary. But the pressure of passing on the bad news can easily mask that. Don’t let it. Showing that you empathise with people, and telling them that you’re sorry about a situation isn’t an admission of guilt or liability. It simply shows that you care.
  • Have answers, or be prepared to get them: be ready to answer the obvious questions… the what, why, when, where, who and how type queries that are bound to be at the forefront of people’s minds when they learn the news. Include as much of the information that’s likely to be important to them as you can. If you don’t have access to all the pertinent details, be honest about it, but endeavour to get the information you need as soon as you can. Lack of information can erode confidence and cause commitment to ebb at the worst possible time.
  • Tailor the message to your audience: consider your audience, and customise your message to address their particular needs in a given situation. Passing on bad news to clients will require a different set of information delivered in a different way that communicating the same news to your co-workers. Different groups are also likely to have varying questions, their responses driven by a different priorities.
  • Highlight mitigation: be sure to mention everything the company is doing to minimise the impact of the bad news.
  • In black and white: always write down your bad-news communications, even if you’re delivering them verbally. Without a script to refer to it’s far too easy to make a mistake with figures, fudge important details or make unrealistic commitments.
  • Keep your word: If you say you’re going to give everyone an update on Monday morning, be ready with an update on Monday morning. If the information you’d hoped for isn’t available, say so… that’s an update. Remember, broken promises make bad news worse, and just erode your credibility.
  • When things improve… tell people: when things turn around, and the news gets better, don’t forget to communicate and share the positive turn of events too. A project finally completed, a new order one, short-work-weeks returned to full-time-work, new jobs. Whatever it is, you should share the news and celebrate the turnaround together.

(Inspired by an entry in Lynn Gaertner-Johnston’s excellent Better Writing at Work newsletter)

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Wall Art – A Great Addition to Any Living Area

There are various styles to decide on from when decorating one’s home that typically times it can become confusing on what he or she must decide on and how it needs to be placed. A really well-known technique for men and women to decide on is taking pieces of wall art from distinct categories. For example, various men and women like to decide on one or two oil paintings with a certain theme. They’ll place these paintings on opposite ends of the room and then use other items to complete the theme. On the other hand Canvas prints deliver you with a number of varying and intriguing obtainable alternatives. You may in fact let your imagination carried out riot. You may easily transform all of your elder photos, your children sketches, just digital or no- electronic photographs onto canvases.Choose your popular picture and convert it into a work of art of wall art. You’ll have a fine portrait or a huge wedding picture for your party, or even a black or white snapshot etc. You may easily choose to have your canvas prints in several forms and sizes, shapes and furthermore color styles and tones. It is up to your preferences. In the event you do not get any existing canvas agents within your certain area, so why don’t you making an on-line order. Modern Wall Art is really a exclusive addition to each living room it adds pizazz in no time. Your one stop internet shop for reasonably priced exclusive wall art and home decor. On the internet shopping has changed the world we live in and now it is possible to shop the wide array of paintings from the canvas art. All canvas wall art are pre-stretched into a solid wood frame with an attached hanging wire ready to make use of.In the event you want genuine oil paintings which are 100% hand painted then do some study and Google will help you decide on from the wide array in designs and sizes. Now it is possible to transform your home or office with our high quality wall art without breaking the budget. That being said, it needs to be no daunting task to take several measurements of the room that you want to decorate, and then go out and purchase forms of oil paintings to display throughout your home.

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Garden Hoses For Gardening and Other Chores

If you have a big, beautiful home garden, chances are, you have a garden hose. A garden hose also known as a hosepipe is basically a flexible rubber tube that carries water. Although garden hoses may also be made from polyurethane or vinyl, rubber is the most popular material used. Attached to a spigot or a tap, water hoses are useful gardening equipment making watering a lot easier and faster. You can attach a number of things at the end of your garden hoses. Sprinklers and sprayers for example, concentrate or de-concentrate water to one point or over a wider area.Fashioned from synthetic rubber or durable soft plastic, garden hoses have an internal web of fibers that makes garden hoses flexible and their smooth exteriors make for easy maneuvering between, around, and past trees and other obstacles. And because of their inherent durability, garden hoses can withstand scraping, scratches, even being stepped on without damaging its functional use.Garden hoses are actually the simplest method of irrigating your garden. But if your garden is quite large, you might benefit from having multiple garden hoses attached end to end. The threads at each end of a typical garden hose easily connect with one another.Hoses are normally classified into categories depending on usage, toughness, durability, and overall quality of materials used. Garden hoses can be either of three kinds:Light Duty. Light duty garden hoses are made of lightweight material and can be handled quite easily. You can use a light duty garden hose for fairly light gardening chores or light house cleaning. This type of hose is easy to move around and drag to different places. It can be wrapped around in a spool after use. It is usually made of hard plastic or rubber.Medium Duty. Medium duty hoses are ideal for general watering purposes. Resistant to kinks and generally durable and flexible, medium duty hoses are good for watering your lawns or washing your car. Most also come with at least a five-year warranty.Medium duty hoses can give out enough water pressure to take out hardened dirt in hard to reach corners. Although a bit heavy, this is very useful in working with big lawns or gardens.Heavy Duty. For tough watering chores, use a heavy duty hose. Very kink-resistant, heavy duty hoses come with heavy duty brass octagonal couplings. They’re also extremely flexible. Heavy duty hoses can handle all of your typical watering chores such as gardening, car washing, etc. This type is perfect if you use your hose heavily as most heavy duty hoses come with lifetime warranties.Other types of hoses are available for various uses and purposes. Generally larger and made with materials tougher than garden hose rubber, some of these types of hoses are employed for industrial purposes and are able to handle intense water pressure.Whether you’re a professional gardener or just doing it as a hobby, pick out a good garden hose to have handy. It should serve you well in the garden and for various other chores you might need it for.

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