Negative Message : Bad News

Delivering negative messages sensitively is a process of communicating negative subject matter to an individual or group while maximizing the goodwill of both parties and minimizing the threat of creating badwill and legal liability. From Wikipedia.

How can we express a negative message? The negative messages are the most difficult ones to express because they communicate unpleasant, disappointing or unfavourable information to receivers. They are delivered in order to resolve problems of an organization or a person. Within each organisation the employees or consumers are to some extent affected by the negative message. It is thus vital to understand how to appropriately communicate the bad news in business industry.
The negative messages are delivered in either a written or a spoken form. There are two common strategies to use in delivering bad messages: direct and indirect patterns. The direct pattern is appropriate when the bad news is not damaging to the receiver. On other hand, the indirect pattern is used to soften the impact of the negative messages.
A tactful approach must be used in order to maintain a positive relationship with the receiver of the negative message which can be the employees or the customers. When there is bad news within an organization either for the employees or superiors it is very important to deliver personally. However, when the organization is too big to convey the news in person, it is recommended to do it through a hard-copy memo. Some companies though many opt to deliver the message via e-mail, videos, webcasts, or voice mail.
Bad news is seen and accepted differently across cultures. Therefore, the method to deliver the message in an acceptable way varies from culture to culture. Knowing the customs of a culture help you to avoid exposing yourself or your organisation to legal liabilities; therefore, avoid the causes of legal problems: abusive language, careless language and good-guy syndrome. We must keep in mind that bad news are not always bad, as if expressed correctly they could bring positive changes in a business.