how to break bad news when no-one is listening

Charles Meaden

Breaking The Bad News….When People Don’t

Want to Listen

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

Can You See What The Problem Is?

“Not Convinced That We Have A Problem”

Our data and analysis clearly indicated a problem

We presented our finding

But no action was taken

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

We’re all rational

Surely educated, intelligent adults should be able to take bad news

Here’s a couple of reasons why…

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

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

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

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

Don’t Hide The Facts

Be brutally honest

If you try and hide the facts, someone else will find them

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

Don’t Delay

Bad news gets worse the longer you leave it

Justify Your Actions

Be prepared to stand up for yourself

Sometime things are outside of your control

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

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”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank You

Follow me @charlesmeaden

Email: charles@digitalnation.co.uk

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