 Lecture 20, As-Salaamu Alaikum. Welcome to the Virtue University's course on business and technical communication. In today's lecture, we will be looking at how to write bad news messages. In any business situation, there are times when you will be writing direct requests. There are times when you will be writing routine goodwill messages, good news messages. And there are also times, unfortunately, where you will have to write bad news messages. There might be correspondence that you need to do in which the information that you are sending out will not be very pleasant as far as the reader is concerned. So, these bad news messages, in which you are sending such a message to your reader, which may not be good news for them, today we will see how we can write bad news messages. And what are their different aspects, different elements that we should keep in mind. In this lecture, you will learn to choose correctly between indirect and direct approaches to a bad news. You will also learn to establish the proper tone from the beginning of your message and how to use neutral lead-ins to put your audience in an accepting mood so that they are ready to accept the bad news that you are giving them. You will also learn to present bad news in a reasonable and understandable way. Write messages that motivate your audience to take constructive action and you will also look at how to close messages so that the audience is willing to continue a business relationship with you or your firm. The organization of bad news messages is important as the organization of any other routine or goodwill or good news message. It's important that you realize that some people interpret being rejected as a personal failure. Being turned down for example for a job or for credit or even being rejected in less sensitive areas usually complicates people's lives. Many times, people feel that if they applied for a job or credit card or they didn't accept that application or for a job or they didn't accept that application or anything that they have turned down or rejected, they personally take it and it becomes especially demotivating. So when you are writing a bad news message, write it in such a way that those who are going to study don't take it personally and don't see it as a positive thing. Business decisions should not be made solely to avoid hurting someone's feelings but mixing bad news with consideration for your readers needs helps your audience understand that the unfavorable decision is based on a business judgment, not a personal one. Obviously, whatever decisions you take in business, they are not your personal decisions. They are all based on some merit and the reason for taking those decisions is that they would be favorable to your company. So please make sure that whatever decisions you are taking are impersonal and they are business-like and also that you are not taking that decision solely to hurt someone's feelings. Obviously, none of these decisions should be made solely to avoid hurting someone's feelings. So please make sure that the bad news that you are trying to convey should be mixed with consideration and encouragement so that the bad news reaches your readers. As with direct requests and routine good news and good will messages, bad news messages are best communicated across cultures by using the tone, organization and other cultural conventions that your audience expects. Obviously, every culture has its own expectations and conventions. Just as we have seen that we have to keep a close eye on the culture in other messages we also have to keep a close eye on the bad news messages For example, people in Germany tend to be more direct with bad news. But in Japan, bad news can be presented so positively that a US business person may not even detect it that he has been given a bad news. So whatever the norms are of the culture where the news is spread try to adopt that organizational style. Also, your tone contributes to your messages effectiveness by supporting three specific goals. The first is that it helps your audience understand that your bad news message represents a firm decision. Whatever your tone is, it helps your audience understand that your bad news message represents a firm decision. Whatever your tone is, it helps your audience understand that your message is a firm decision and that you will not change it. Because if your tone is not so firm and the reader feels that maybe I should write one or two more letters and then make a decision, then it will take your time because you have already made a decision and then you will have to read more letters. So your tone needs to be such that it conveys the firmness of your decision. Also, it should help your audience understand that under the circumstances your decision was fair and reasonable. Obviously, you want them to respond favorably to you whenever you communicate with them and you also want them to realize that your decision was fair and reasonable and not based on any personal prejudice. So you will make sure that your tone contributes to this and it does not seem to the audience that you have taken the decision based on any personal animosity. Also, your tone should help your audience remain well disposed towards your business and possibly towards you as well. Try to use a pleasant tone so that in future as well, the reader will be willing to do business with you interact with you and your company. With the right tone, you can make an unwelcome point while preserving your audience's ego. If the tone is right, then really even if whatever you are saying is unpleasant to the audience, you can still make a point and not let the audience down, not let them feel that their ego has been hurt. That is why the audience will keep their self-respect and your bad news message will be sent to them but if your tone is right, then one key is to make liberal use of the U-attitude. We have talked about the U-attitude earlier which means taking the reader's point of view in mind, trying to use the pronoun U it's used in a way that it does not seem accusatory to the reader. For example, by pointing out how your decision might actually further your audience's goal, you are using the U-attitude and although the message is unwelcome, you are pointing out that in the long run, it is actually better for the reader that you have rejected their application or whatever they had requested. Another key is to convey concern by looking for the best in your audience. Assume that your audience is interested in being fair even when they are at fault. Finally, you can ease disappointment by using positive words rather than negative words. Obviously, if your message is a bad news message, then it is natural that your audience will be disappointed by reading that message. But still, you will try to use the words that are positive and not negative. The two basic strategies that can be used for organizing bad news messages are the indirect plan which presents supporting data before the main idea and the direct plan which presents the main idea before the supporting data. In the indirect plan, instead of beginning a business message with a blunt no which might keep your audience from reading or listening to your reasons for rejection, the indirect plan eases your audience into the part of the message that demonstrates how you are fair-minded and eager to do business on some other terms. So, you will not give the main idea first, you will give the reasons first and then come to the rejection instead of giving a blunt no right upfront. The indirect plan consists of four parts, a buffer. The second part constitutes reasons supporting the negative decision. Then, you have a clear diplomatic statement of the negative decision which as you can see comes third in the indirect plan and not right upfront. And then the fourth section is a helpful, friendly and positive close. So, first of all, there will be a buffer which we will see in detail later on. After that, you will give reasons why you took the negative decision. After that, you will tell your negative statement or the rejection statement after that. And finally, you will finish with a friendly and positive note which will be your closing. By presenting the reasons for your decision before the bad news itself, you gradually prepare the audience for the disappointment. You are actually leading them in towards the disappointment. And in most cases, this approach is more appropriate than an abrupt statement of the bad news. Now, talking of the four steps in an indirect plan, the first, as we said, was the buffer. The first step in using the indirect plan is to put the audience in an accepting mood by making a neutral non-controversial statement closely related to the point of the message. So, try to make sure that the opening statement is neutral and non-controversial. Although it's directly closely related to the subject, it should not come out negative right in the beginning. If possible, base this buffer on statements made by the person you're responding to, since using an unrelated buffer seems that you are beating around the bush, you appear unethical, so you tend to lose your audience's respect. So, whatever it is that you're using as the opening statement, as your buffer, try to relate it to the person that you're responding to and what they have said to you earlier. When composing your buffer, avoid giving the impression that good news will follow. Don't mislead your audience. As we've said earlier, you need to put them in an accepting mood, but you also need to make it clear to them that the message that will come after this buffer is a negative message. If your opening statement will tell you that there is some positive news then it will point out that positive news will not follow. So, building up the audience at the beginning only makes subsequent lead down even more painful. Let's have a look at an example. Imagine your reaction if you were to get a letter from Schultz Creative Associates or any other company with this opening. Your resume indicates that you would be well suited as a vendor for our Peanuts characters. This is a cartoon company, their character is Peanuts and this is someone who has applied for a job to sell their character, to sell their different things. So, what they have written is that your resume indicates that you are very suited to be a vendor for our company. But they have to reject their application. So, with this kind of message the reader will immediately feel that maybe our application is accepting and they will be happy and then they will read that actually. Compare however, this opening with this one. Your resume shows very clearly why you are interested in becoming a vendor for our Peanuts characters. Now, this second opening emphasizes the favorable interpretation of the applicant's qualifications rather than the company's evaluation. So, it's less misleading while it's still positive but they still scope to rejection at the end. It basically talks about the applicant's positive areas. It says it's very clear why you're interested but the company can easily say that yes you seem interested but we are not interested basically. Now, the different things different elements to keep in mind when you're composing a buffer. First of all you should avoid saying no an audience encountering the unpleasant news right at the beginning will react negatively to the rest of the message no matter how reasonable and well phrased it is. So, in the beginning don't start with no or negative because if that happens then the audience who is going to read will not read it reasonably they will immediately feel negative. Also avoid using a all tone. When you use phrases such as you should be aware that etc the audience will expect your lecture to lead to a negative response and will therefore become resistant to the rest of your message. It's a very lecture-type tone it feels like you're preaching to them so they will immediately their reaction will be negative and they won't listen to it later. Also, you should avoid a wordy and irrelevant phrases and sentences. Sentences such as we have received your letter this letter is in reply to your request etc we are writing in response to your request. All these are irrelevant. You make better use of the space of in the letter by referring directly to the subject of the letter. As you know there is always a subject line in a letter so it's just better to refer to that subject line with reference to the subject above. You don't need to say that you have written the letter and we are answering it. Just refer to the subject. Also, avoid apologizing. You are giving a bad news but you don't need to ask for forgiveness and apology weakens your explanation of the unfavorable decision. It makes you seem weak and remember as we talked about earlier you need to show your audience that your decision is firm and that it's clear and unbiased. So you don't need to apologize for it. It's taken because of some very specific reasons. Also avoid writing a buffer that is too long. The point is to identify briefly something that both you and the audience are interested in and agree on before proceeding in a business like way. So, there is no need to be a buffer of one or two sentences. Now let's have a look at some examples where different types of buffers are used. Firstly, you can use show agreement in your buffer. Find a point on which you and the reader share a similar view and for example you can say something like we both know how hard it is to make a profit in this industry and then go on to give you bad news and you can show appreciation. Express sincere thanks for receiving something. For example, your check for $127.17 arrived yesterday. Thank you. Now that you're starting with a positive note and then you can give your negative response. Also you could show cooperation convey your willingness to help in any way you realistically can. For example, employee services smooths the way for those who work to achieve the company's goals. You can also start with a part of your message that is favorable, start with good news. For example, a replacement knob for your range is on its way, shipped February 10 via UPS. So, if you have something that is favorable, then you can talk about it first and then talk about it again. Also, we said earlier that you need to be very fair and your bad news message and your buffer should convey that fairness. Assure the reader that you've carefully examined and considered the problem or mentioned an appropriate action that has already been taken. For example, for the past week we've carefully monitored those using the photocopier to see whether we can detect any pattern of use to explain its frequent breakdowns. You can also start with praise, find an attribute or achievement to complement. For example, if you say something like, your resume shows an admirable breadth of experience which should serve you well as you progress in your career. This starts off very positively, it's praise, it's it's good news, it's good news, it's good news, it's good news, it's starts off very positively, it's praising the applicant and then you can give the rejection saying that however the applicant cannot fit in well into your particular company. You can also start with showing understanding, demonstrate that you understand the reader's goals and needs, for example, so that you can more easily find the typewriter with the features you need. We are enclosing a brochure that describes all the all-centre typewriters currently available. So if you're working for the all-centre company then this is something that you can say if for example somebody's requested a particular typewriter and you cannot supply it. Also, favorably discuss the product or company related to the subject of the letter. For example with the heavy duty, full suspension hardware and fine veneers, the desks and file cabinets in our Montclair line have become a hit with value conscious professionals. So talk about your product or company favorably and that can serve as a good introduction in your letter. Now why do we use a buffer? Basically if you've done a good job of composing the buffer then it will be very easy for you to write about the reasons why you are rejecting the person's request or why you are giving the bad news. With a good buffer reasons can follow naturally cover the more positive points first then move on to the less positive ones. In the reasons when you're listing the reasons for the decision of giving out this bad news then follow or talk about the more positive ones first and then come to the stronger more negative ones. Also provide enough detail for your audience to understand your reasons but alongside that be concise a long roundabout explanation may make your audience impatient. So although you need to give detail you also need to keep conciseness in mind. If you give a very long explanation then your audience will be in trouble and they will think what they are going to say and when we are giving the bad news then why are you talking so long? It's more important to explain why you have reached your decision before you explain what that decision is. This is because first you explain why you are taking this decision and then you tell yourself the decision so that the audience, as I said earlier they read the negative decision and block their mind in general so you give the reasons first so that when they read the negative decision they are not upset with you. If you present your reasons effectively they will convince the audience that your decision is justified, fair and logical. So try to convince them first by pointing out your reasons and then give the message. Also as I said present reasons to show that your decision is reasonable and fair. So although you are giving the reasons you write the reasons in such a way that the reader will also know that your decision is fair and biased here. When giving you reasons, be tactful by highlighting the benefits of the decision to the audience rather than focusing on the company. This is the you attitude that we talked about. Show the audience what benefits they have don't talk about the benefit that the bad news will have to your company. For example when you are saying no to a credit request your decision will keep the person from becoming over extended financially. For example if you are working for a credit card company and someone has applied for a credit card then you and you cannot give them credit cards because you feel that their financial situation is not like this that they can take the loan and give it back. Then you will not say that if we give you credit cards then our company will have a loss. You will say that if you have a credit card then your financial burden will come on them. As you explain your reasons don't try to cushion bad news by hiding behind a company policy. Although skilled and sympathetic communicators may sometimes quote company policy. They also briefly explain it so that the audience can try to meet the requirements at a later time. If you try to use the company policy as an excuse but if you are using the company policy and you are telling that you are giving this rejection or bad news because of the company policy then you should also tell what is the policy so that at a later time the audience who is going to read can meet the requirements of the policy and if they want to apply or if they have a request they can request it again. Also don't apologize when you are giving your reasons. Apologies are appropriate only when someone in your company has made a severe mistake or done something terribly wrong. So although your decision is a bad news message there is nothing wrong in it. It is a fair decision so you don't need to apologize for it. If you are apologizing you are not making a mistake because this is the decision of your company and this is a fair decision. If no one in the company is at fault an apology gives the wrong impression then it seems that you are actually accepting blame for the decision. The tone of the language you use to explain your reasons also greatly influences your audience's reception and the bad news that follows. So avoid negative counterproductive words like error, dissatisfied, shocked, etc. Whatever words you use will have a big impact on your audience's reception. So carefully choose your words. Also when we talk of tone it is important to remember to use an accusatory tone don't make it seem that you are accusing the other person and product the audience's pride by using language that conveys respect. So show that you respect the audience even though you are giving them a bad news message you still respect them as an individual or as a company if you are writing to a company. For example if you say the appliance is being immersed in water it's much better than saying you shouldn't have immersed the appliance in water. The second one you shouldn't have immersed is accusatory and it shows that you have no or very little respect for the person that you are writing to. When refusing the application of a management trainee for example a tactfully worded letter might give these reasons for the decision not to hire. Because these management trainee positions are quite challenging a human relations department has researched the qualifications needed to succeed in them. The findings show that the two most important qualifications are a bachelor's degree in business administration and two years supervisory experience. Now this paragraph does a good job of stating the reasons for the refusal. It provides enough detail to make the reason for the refusal logically acceptable and it shows that the applicant is better off avoiding a program in which he or she would probably fail given the background of others who would be working alongside him or her. So it shows that this is the minimum qualification that we need and implies that the applicant is better off avoiding a program in which he or she would probably fail given the background of others of the qualification that we need and implies that even if you were to be selected then you might not be able to cope with the other person's qualifications. So first of all they tell you that these are the reasons and these are our requirements and of course those who do not have the qualifications will be able to understand that we are getting bad news that is why our application has been rejected. Also this paragraph does not rest solely on company policy. Relevant policy exists but it is presented in a logical way rather than a rigid way. Also if you notice that it offers no apology for the decision. It does not say that someone is apologizing to take this decision. It only states that and also it avoids negative expressions like you do not meet our requirements. It just says what the requirements are and the reader knows that they have not reached those requirements. All the specific reasons help the audience accept bad news their times when reasons cannot be given. When reasons involve confidential, excessively complicated or purely negative information or when the reasons benefit only you or your firm such as enhancing your business, do not include them. Instead move directly to the next section and this next section is the statement of the bad news. If you can give reasons then after giving reasons these bad news will come and if you cannot give reasons because there are some confidentiality matters or news such as that your company will benefit and there is no way that you can word it then it is better that you do not give reasons, give direct bad news after buffer. When the bad news is a logical outcome of the reasons that come before it, the audience is psychologically prepared to receive it. However the audience may still react emotionally if the bad news is handled carelessly. Let's have a look at some methods for de-emphasizing the bad news. Whatever bad news we are giving we will see how we can do it. You can minimize the space or time devoted to it. You can subordinate the bad news in a complex or compound sentence. For example you can say my department is already shorthanded so I need all my staff for at least the next two months. If someone is going to borrow from you or someone has requested that you send some people there and then you can subordinate it and say that you are the first short staff and then you can tell them that you need people for the next two months so you can't send them. Or you can embed the bad news in the middle of a paragraph. Whatever bad news you have write it in the middle of a paragraph so that it will have less impact. Two other techniques are especially useful in saying no as clearly but painlessly as possible. First using a conditional if or when statement that implies the audience could possibly have received or might someday receive a favorable answer. For example saying something like when you have more managerial experience you are welcome to reapply. This is a condition you have answered and it looks positive you are giving a rejection. It's less painful because there is some hope for the future that you are pointing to. The other technique is to tell your audience what you did do, can do or will do rather than what you did not do cannot do or will not do. Say for example we sell exclusively through retailers and the one nearest you that carries a merchandise is dash dash dash rather than we are unable to serve you so please call your nearest dealer. In these two sentences you will see that the first one is saying what we do and they are telling the reader that we only sell goods through retailers and they are telling where their nearest retailer will be but if we say we only sell through retailers that is why we cannot sell these goods it looks very negative and the message is that you cannot do anything so it is better that you phrase like the first one that you can do something helpful with your attitude. A statement like this one need not be followed by the explicit news that you won't be hiring the reader if you have applied to your company to become your dealer or to become a sales rep then if you tell them that we only sell through retailers and they are your nearest retailer then they can clearly know that you cannot hire them and you don't need to say by focusing on the positive and only implying the bad news you soften the blow because you haven't stated the bad news directly and the blow or the impact becomes less of course when you are implying bad news be sure that your audience understands the message including the bad news sometimes it happens that if we have implying the bad news then some people implying it so softly that the reader doesn't realize that they are being given bad news and the poor people although you are implying the bad news make sure that it gets across to the audience it would not be ethical to overemphasize the positive because it would be misleading the audience so try to say positive but don't talk too much positive don't talk too much positive in your tone that your audience understands that you are getting good news also be sure to avoid blunt statements of pain and anger it may be blunt now it balance okay there are some phrases to be going to look at which are likely to offend the reader and should not be included in a bad news message for example saying I must refuse or we cannot allow we must deny we must reject these are very harsh statements and they are likely to the person who is being rejected or whose application or request is being rejected so try to avoid these after giving the bad news your job is to end the message on a more upbeat note this is the fourth section of the indirect plan the positive closing so give reasons or give bad news now in closing we will keep a positive note if you have asked someone to decide between alternatives or to take some action make sure he or she knows what to do in your closing you will clarify what it is that they need to do when to do it and how to do it with ease so in this in the closing you will recap if you want to take action then you will summarize and tell them what action and when to take action whatever type of closing you choose there are some guidelines that you need to follow number one don't refer too directly or repeat the bad news if you have told the bad news don't refer it again and don't repeat it don't apologize for the decision or reveal any doubt that the reasons will be accepted avoid statements such as I trust a decision is satisfactory because if you say I trust a decision is satisfactory then the reader may feel that you have doubt also number three don't urge additional communication avoid saying things like the questions please write unless you are really ready to discuss your decision don't anticipate problems avoid statements such as should you have further problems please let us know don't say that you may have other problems because if you say the reader will definitely write you back don't include cliches that are insincere in view of the bad news avoid saying things like if we can be of any help please contact us if you can't help then don't write it also don't reveal any doubt that you will keep the person as a customer avoid phrases such as we hope you will continue to do business with us you are saying that you may have doubt that the reader will take his business somewhere else you may feel that you don't have confidence so don't show that now coming to the direct plan we have started talking about two ways to organize the bad news message indirect plan and direct plan now let's see what is the direct plan and what is it a bad news message organized on the direct plan format would start with a clear statement of the bad news the reasons for the decision and end with a courteous close as we saw in the indirect plan that there is first buffer then reasons, then bad news in the direct plan there will be first bad news then there will be reasons and close will be in the end as you saw there will be only three there will be no buffer stating the bad news at the beginning has two potential advantages it makes a message shorter and the audience needs less time to reach the main idea of the message which is the bad news when the time is running out you want to write a small message and it takes less time for the reader then it is better to give a bad news message because these are the two advantages definitely although the indirect approach is preferable in most bad news messages you may sometimes want to move right to the point for example memos are often organized so that bad news comes before the reasons some managers even expect all internal correspondents to be brief and direct regardless of whether the message is positive or negative in internal communication there is no need for buffers many managers want to read small communication because they want to read more many internal communication they are short that is why they can follow the direct plan many managers want to get their gist quickly so there is no need for buffers there is no need to write a long message you can directly state the bad news and give it reasons routine bad news messages to other companies also often follow the direct plan especially if they relay decisions that have little or no personal impact if their decisions which will have no impact on a particular individual then even bad news messages to people outside of the company or to other companies not individuals but to companies as an organization can have a direct plan the direct plan is also appropriate when you want to present an image of the firmness and strength of the company for example the last message you are collecting money from someone or you have to give them a final notice maybe just before the matter is turned over to the court then in this case you want to show the audience that you are firm and that you mean business and now that the matter has come to a point where you are not going to make any compromises so there you can have a direct plan for several reasons businesses must sometimes convey bad news concerning orders if someone has given you an order and you cannot meet him or supply him or because of many other reasons many times companies have to give bad news about different orders when you are conveying bad news about orders you are trying to work towards an eventual sale along the lines or you could be trying to keep instructions or additional information as clear as possible and your goal could be to maintain an optimistic confident tone so that your readers won't lose interest this is very important when you for example have to order have back orders for a customer you can have one or two types of bad news to convey if a customer has ordered and wants to order again you can have bad news of this type for example you are able to send only part of the order you are not able to meet the complete order or you are able to send none of the order you cannot send anything that they have ordered so in this lecture you have learnt to choose correctly between indirect and direct approaches to bad news and in which cases we will use direct plan you have also learnt to establish the proper tone from the beginning of the message and how to use neutral lead-ins to put your audience in an accepting mood when you want to start your bad news what type of language will you use that your audience will be in an accepting mood until they reach bad news learnt to present bad news in a reasonable and understandable way we talked about writing messages that motivate your audience to take constructive action especially particularly in the closing we also talked about closing messages so that your audience is willing to continue a business relationship with your firm these were the bad news messages bad news messages are generally difficult to write and that's why it's important that we keep these points in mind when we are writing bad news we want to listen to good news people are not ready to listen to bad news and that's the kind of news that you have to use to reach someone so I hope what we have learnt today is useful when you need to write bad news messages until next time Allah Hafiz