Appraisal and performance management are perhaps the hardest practical managerial tasks of all, and the cause of the greatest dissatisfaction at work. Businesses want to raise the bar of performance all the time, says Steve Newhall, managing director of consultancy firm DDI, but sometimes people dont know that the bar was high in the first place. So the first point about delivering bad news has to be this: try to ensure that it doesnt come out of the blue.
Make sure that people are aware of what they are supposed to be doing, Newhall says. Objectives must not be too vague. How will their performance be measured? What is the deadline? You need to be smart about your goals. John Seddon of Vanguard Consulting agrees. Do your people even know what doing a good job looks like? he asks.
Instead of saving up all the bad news for the ritual of the annual appraisal, try and keep your feedback going on a more informal, continuous basis. Goals and targets can be monitored quarterly or even monthly. If there is bad news
to face up to, at least it can be tackled in manageable stages.
The second crucial aspect of delivering bad news is to make sure your words are as calm and factual as possible. It is no use putting off a difficult conversation time and again and bottling up frustration, only for it to come out later on as an emotional onslaught. Gather all the facts together first, and try to be as constructive as you can.
We use the acronym STAR as a reminder of this, says DDIs Newhall. First focus on the situational task that was required, then consider the actions that were taken, and then analyse the result. If you present this in a factual way your colleague will find it easier to respond. You can also look forward, asking, What could we have done differently here that would have given us a better outcome?.
A third element to remember is where we began: temper the criticism with positive messages. It makes bad news more palatable and reminds employees that they do have ability and the potential to do well.
Why do we persist in employing the least effective means of feedback? writes Sir John Whitmore in the classic book Coaching for Performance. Because we look at it all from our point of view, rather than that of the performer; because we say what we want, without understanding the effects of what we say. With that in mind there is some good news: with a little effort and understanding, we can all get a lot better at delivering bad news.