Lecture Business and administrative communication: Chapter 10 - Kitty O. Locker, Donna S. Kienzler

Chapter 10 - Delivering negative messages. In this chapter, students will be able to understand: Different purposes of negative messages; different ways to organize negative messages; ways to construct the different parts of negative messages; how to improve the tone of negative messages; ways to construct different kinds of negative messages; how, and how not, to use technology for negative messages.

Chapter 10

Delivering Negative

Messages

 Message does not benefit them

 Usually they experience

disappointment or anger

refusals Policy changes not benefiting customer Poor performance

appraisals Disciplinary notices

 Primary Purposes

 To give audience bad news

 To have audience read, understand, and accept

message

 To maintain as much goodwill as possible

 Secondary Purposes

 To build good image of communicator

 To build good image of communicator’s organization

 They have been taken

seriously

 The decision is fair and

reasonable

 If they were in your

situation, they would make the same

decision

Clients & Customers

audience will understand and accept, give the reason before the refusal

statement

Superiors

Peers & Subordinates

available

 May suggest helpful solutions

 Audience may accept outcomes better

audience

 May ignore message

 Needs information to act

messages

 Be cautious of neutral subject lines

Parts: Buffers

refusal

 Prepare audience for refusal

 Help audience accept refusal

 Show how policy benefits audience

 If no benefit, omit policy from message

deemphasize

 Don’t write 2 nd message to say no

audience wants

audience’s needs

psychological freedom (freedom of choice)

 Please let us know if we can be of

further help.

 If correcting only small error

 When not at fault

 Only once

 Early in message

 Briefly

 Sincerely

toward the audience and subject

wrong

you will never use company again

 Try to use a buffer

 Give specific reasons

 Give alternative, if any

 Use knowledge of culture, individual to craft

reply

Varieties: Disciplinary Notices and  Performance Appraisals

 Not inferences

 Include dates, quantities

work, if disciplinary action is taken

 Unrelated face-saving reason may

create legal liability

 Avoid broadcasting reasons to

avoid defamation lawsuit

messages

 E-mail

 Social media