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Deliver bad news in writing

A slipped deadline, a cancelled project, a decision that will land badly.

Longbad-newsdifficult
Help me write this message. It is bad news and the recipient will be unhappy.

Rules:
1. Lead with the news. Do not build up to it. They will skim for it anyway and resent the preamble.
2. Say what happened in plain terms, with the cause, without a wall of justification.
3. Own whatever is ours. Passive voice reads as evasion, so avoid it.
4. State the impact on them specifically, including what they now have to do differently.
5. Give the plan and the next concrete date, even if that date is only when they will hear more.
6. Do not ask them to understand, and do not tell them you are excited about anything.

After the draft, list the three questions they will immediately ask, and say whether the message answers them.

Situation:
Who I am telling:

Making it yours

  • Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
  • Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
  • If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.

Hard news and conflict. Bad news, apologies, angry replies, boundaries and feedback that has to survive in writing.

Related prompts

Apologise properly, onceYou got something wrong and the apology needs to land before the excuse does.Reply to an angry messageSomething landed in your inbox that made your heart rate go up.Set a boundary in writingMessages at midnight, creeping scope, or a pattern you need to name once.Give difficult feedback in writingThe conversation has to happen in text and you get one shot at the wording.Write a resignation or offboarding noteYou are leaving and the note will outlive the feelings you have today.Bad news in the first lineA slipped deadline or a cancelled plan that somebody will be unhappy about.

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