How to Break Bad News When No-One is Listening
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Transcript of How to Break Bad News When No-One is Listening
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Charles Meaden
Breaking The Bad News….When People Don’t
Want to Listen
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30 Seconds About Me…
Founded Digital Nation 17 years ago
Analysing websites for 19 years
5th time at Measurecamp, 5th talk
We do a lot of troubleshooting
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Can You See What The Problem Is?
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“Not Convinced That We Have A Problem”
Our data and analysis clearly indicated a problem
We presented our finding
But no action was taken
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What Do I Mean By Bad News?
Any analysis or reporting that shows a decline in performance compared to a baseline or a running average
What effect will this bad news have?
Official definition results in a cognitive, behavioral, or emotional deficit in the
person receiving the news that persists for some time after the news is received
My definition That the person isn’t going to be a ‘happy bunny’ and really
isn’t going to like you for a while
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We’re all rational
Surely educated, intelligent adults should be able to take bad news
Here’s a couple of reasons why…
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Fear
None of us like bad news
What’s the impact going to be on person receiving it
Personal reputation
Economic impact
What else is this going effect
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Distrust
“70 to 80% of all analytics setups I examine are seriously flawed” Craig Sullivan @optimiseordie
If previous setups have been flawed, why should they trust your data and analysis
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Ignorance and Confusion
Our ‘clients’ don’t understand what we are talking about
Analysts have a tendency to talk in our their language
Sometimes our clients don’t have the time to learn
Sometimes they don’t want to learn or can’t be bothered
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So What Can We Do
Here is a list of ways that we can get people to listen to us
Then it’s your turn
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Don’t Hide The Facts
Be brutally honest
If you try and hide the facts, someone else will find them
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Document Everything
Before presenting verbally, document the whole issue
It’ll help you present the case
It can be emailed around as soon as the news has been delivered
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Don’t Delay
Bad news gets worse the longer you leave it
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Justify Your Actions
Be prepared to stand up for yourself
Sometime things are outside of your control
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Spend Time Getting to Know The Client
Time spent getting to know what makes the client ‘tick’ will help you frame the way that bad news is delivered
Try and understand what fears the client has and what worries them the most
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Speak Their Language
Describe the problem in language that they understand
Use the metrics and KPI’s that they understand
The very first question we always ask new clients is
“What do you want to know about visitors to your site”
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Talk to Everyone Affected
If you’re delivering news to multiple teams (especially in the enterprise), Try and take informal soundings from each team about the
effects it will have Find out what is the best way to present the news
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Back It Up With Data
Carefully explain using data the exact nature of the problem
Explain where the data was sourced from and it’s context
Keep your working in reserve
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Show Them The Money
If there is any economic impact, don’t try and hide this away
Make it as clear as possible the actual costs
Outline the costs if the situation is allowed to continue
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Be Positive – Provide Solutions and Actions
Look for a silver lining to soften the blow – are there any upsides to the issue or insights that can be gleaned
Deliver the bad news with a set of possible actions and scenarios to remedy the issue
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Take It On The Chin
If you or your team caused the problem, take the blame as soon as possible
Make sure you’re also part of the solution
Regain people’s trust
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Be Careful with the Blame Thrower
If a third party has caused the problem, name them
Be fair to them
Provide and document your reasons
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One Problem, Many Audiences
The news will leave the room
Depending on how bad it is, it will spread far and wide and possibly to the very top
When presenting the bad news, consider all the audiences
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Understand the Fear
Take the time to understand what is making them fearful
Sometimes the first reason they give you is actually hiding something else
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Educate Your Audience
What steps can you take to make your clients more knowledgeable?
Take their real world issues and show them how to resolve them
We use Snag It for screenshots Camtasia for screen movies JoinMe for desktop sharing
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Follow Up and Follow Through
Once the bad news has been delivered
Get going on the recovery plan
Keep everyone in the loop as to what is happening
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Thank You
Follow me @charlesmeaden
Email: [email protected]
Big hat tip to the following and many others from the talk from their thoughts and contributions
Yves-Marie Lemaître @yh1 Hugh Gage @hughgage Craig Sullivan @optimiseordie Elisabeth Rizzi @ElisabethRizzi Penelope Bellegarde - @Penanalytics James Wawne