Clients and stakeholders
Bad news to a client
Deliver bad news with accountability rather than explanation.
Telling a client something has gone wrong.
The shape
- Reality
- Impact
- Accountability
- Mitigation
- Next step
Why that order
The third step is the one that decides how this is received. Cause without accountability reads as a list of reasons it was not your fault.
A worked example
We will not meet the agreed deadline. The delay will affect your rollout. We take responsibility for the missed commitment. We have added resource to recover the schedule. I will send the revised plan by 4pm.
What usually goes wrong
Leading with the cause. By the time the news arrives it sounds pre defended.
Built from
An application framework is a package. These are the reusable shapes inside it.
Mostly serves Message, and reaches into Presence and Connection.
A framework tells you what shape the answer takes. It cannot tell you whether shape is what you are short of, and for most people it is not. Which one is yours, and whether a framework is the right instrument at all, is what a Discovery Call is for.
Take the AssessmentOr read the whole glossary first.