Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Why do you think are bad news? What you have to inform to your stakeholder is the project status according your project communication plan. Then you have to work with your stakeholders to find corrective or preventive actions them apply. But the worst thing you can do is thinking that something is bad or good news. You never have all the needed information to decide about that.
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1 reply by Vincent Guerard
Sep 12, 2016 11:51 PM
Vincent Guerard
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Agree with Sergio and Maria
Just break the news, let stakeholder be the judge. It might be a good news when you believe it's bad.
What are bad news? They are fired, maybe this is an opportunity to travel and discover the world.
The project sponsor decided to stop or delay the project? Perfect, now is vacations time!
As @Sergio said, nothing is bad or good, maybe you think that something is bad, but for a stakeholder is an opportunity. Saving Changes...
Have courage, and prepare to take responsibility. If there is anything that require stakeholder’s immediate attention, you must bring it to their knowledge. Saving Changes...
Why do you think are bad news? What you have to inform to your stakeholder is the project status according your project communication plan. Then you have to work with your stakeholders to find corrective or preventive actions them apply. But the worst thing you can do is thinking that something is bad or good news. You never have all the needed information to decide about that.
Agree with Sergio and Maria
Just break the news, let stakeholder be the judge. It might be a good news when you believe it's bad. Saving Changes...
Jesus AlvaradoProject Manager| Denys ArabiaAl Khobar, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
Give the bad news as early as possible, and provide immediately an action plan based on the contingency response from your risk logs. If none available, have a set of solutions before you inform stakeholders.
The idea is always to go to the stakeholders with solutions instead of problems.
I agree with Maria, in that every situation there might be endless opportunities to find good resolutions. Saving Changes...
thanks for your comments. please consider the definition of "Bad news" as unfavorable project situation such as delay, cost overrun, -ve margin, etc.
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1 reply by Sergio Luis Conte
Sep 13, 2016 5:07 AM
Sergio Luis Conte
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What I tried to say is that when you communicate your duties is to provide information (no data) to work with the project stakeholders to find corrective or preventive actions. Decide about the information you are providing is a responsability of your stakeholders. Obviously, you are included, but the worst thing you can do is to deliver information (mainly if you are presenting it face-to-face or talking with the stakeholders) transimiting your own thinking about that. As project manager you never have the whole information.
Saving Changes...
Ram Narayanan SastryProduct Analyst| Toshiba Medical Systems CorporationNasushiobara-Shi, Tochigi-Ken, Japan
I will restrain from going into whether the items mentioned are to be considered bad news or not and will try to answer your original question. The first thing to remember about "Bad News" is that it is "News". Now as a project manager one is responsible for ensuring the success of the project, so how does the Bad News actually affect the project is the first thing to be assessed. Is it something that needs to be withheld from the team to ensure that motivation is not lowered and progress goes on, while you do something in the background to alleviate the situation. Or is it something that needs brainstorming and inputs from others and hence it is better to share? Once you have determined a need to share this, the next step is to identify whom to share with. Note, that Bad News spreads very fast, so eventually it will reach everyone, so it might be better for you to be the person breaking that news in a more controlled fashion rather then leave it open to speculation. But, one needs to plan how and to whom the news would be shared at what point, so that impact of the bad news can be managed effectively. The best way to actually break the news is when you have outlined the impacts of the news as well as some alternative paths that can be taken up moving forward. I have always found that management is more amenable to look forward when I have options in my hand of how we can move forward, rather than when I go only with the problem!! One saying which keeps popping in my mind at this stage is "Are you going to the management with a problem or Are you the problem?" Because as Project Managers it is our job to find the solutions!! Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Sep 13, 2016 3:29 AM
Replying to Visswanathan KKN
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thanks for your comments. please consider the definition of "Bad news" as unfavorable project situation such as delay, cost overrun, -ve margin, etc.
What I tried to say is that when you communicate your duties is to provide information (no data) to work with the project stakeholders to find corrective or preventive actions. Decide about the information you are providing is a responsability of your stakeholders. Obviously, you are included, but the worst thing you can do is to deliver information (mainly if you are presenting it face-to-face or talking with the stakeholders) transimiting your own thinking about that. As project manager you never have the whole information. Saving Changes...
Thanks again for your comments.
From my experience, it is better to keep the relevant stakeholders informed about potential concerns in early stage and the actions being taken by the team. Informal telephone or face to face discussions for few minutes help in creating trust and openness in communication. This approach makes the other person part of solving the problem when bad things actually happen and also it helps the project manager to escalate the situation. Saving Changes...
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