3 Tips For Breaking Bad News To Your Boss So That You Don’t Lose Your Job
Everybody makes mistakes, including while you’re at work. But while making a mistake in your personal life might complicate things for you sometimes, making a mistake at work can sometimes cost you your job. Luckily, there are things you can do to help admit to your mistake or the mistakes of others in such a way that your position in your company is protected and your boss doesn’t take everything out on you.
To help you see how this can be done, here are three tips for breaking bad news to your boss so that you don’t lose your job.
Get Yourself In The Right Headspace
As soon as you know that there is bad news to break to your boss, be it that you just noticed that you’ve been doing a process wrong for a while or you see that a big piece of machinery like a commercial chiller needs to be repaired, you should make sure that you get yourself in the right headspace before broaching this topic.
When people fear having tough conversations, they might find that they go into these conversations feeling very uneasy, timid, and emotional. But if you’re wanting to be able to hold your own in front of your boss, you’ll have to get these emotions in check. So if you have to go through the conversation in your head so that you can know how you share what you need to share without letting it get the best of you, do this beforehand so that when you speak with your boss, you’re ready to speak and think clearly.
Be Direct
Although you might be nervous about how your boss will respond when you give them this piece of bad news, what can make the situation worse is if they feel like you’re withholding things from them or aren’t being direct. You know that your boss is busy, so wasting their time trying to beat around the bush could just make things worse than if you’d just come right out and say it. So while you might think you’re softening the blow by easing into the bad news, it’s often just best to get right to the point so you can quickly move forward.
Bring Them Options For Solutions
In the most ideal of circumstances, along with bringing your boss the bad news that you’re having to share, you should also come to the table with some options for solutions to these problems as well. Even if your boss doesn’t wind up using one of the solutions that you brainstormed on your own, seeing that you were thinking ahead for a solution and that you want to do whatever you can to make things right will put you in a more positive light than if you just dumped all the bad news and made it their problem.
If you have some bad news that you’re having to break to your boss, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you be ready for this tough conversation.
