Chapter 8 Review Questions

The primary goals of negative messages are to deliver the bad news respectfully, clearly, and logically and to maintain and develop goodwill with the reader. The secondary goals are to be empathetic to the reader, deliver the message in a timely way, and protect yourself and the organization from legal liability.

To develop a good tone in bad news messages, writers should avoid pleading, mixed messages, assumptions that the reader will accept the bad news, opinions that risk legal liability, jargon, overly apologetic statements, and writer-centred remarks. Writers should stick to the facts and ensure expressions of sympathy do not hint at the bad news.

The three types of subject lines are (1) positive, to highlight solutions in problem-oriented messages and persuade readers of benefits of potentially unpopular policies or changes; (2) neutral, to signal the topic but without referring to the bad news; and (3) negative, to command attention for serious internal problems and issues that might otherwise be ignored.

Direct writing plans should be used for bad news messages in the following situations: when you know the reader well enough to understand their preference for directness, when the bad news is expected, when critical information might otherwise escape notice, when the bad news is not serious to the reader, when it is company practice, or when you want to end a business relationship.

Indirect writing plans should be used in the following situations: when you don’t know the reader well, when the bad news isn’t anticipated by the reader, or when you anticipate a strong negative reaction from the reader.

The buffer could express appreciation, good or neutral news, a fact, a chronology of communications, statement of agreement, an apology or a statement of understanding, or a compliment.

Several techniques will help the reader accept the bad news: put the bad news in a dependent clause, offer alternatives, use passive voice, use long sentences, use positive language, embed the bad news, or imply the refusal rather than stating it directly.

As long as the apology does not admit fault or liability, a well-worded apology can show you care, so apologies can be used, but carefully. However, do not apologize for minor errors or any serious trouble or inconvenience for which you or the company is responsible.

Request refusals, claim refusals, credit refusals, job rejections, bad news announcements, and refusals of invitations are common bad news messages

Use the following guidelines when responding to unfavourable social media posts: respond quickly, avoid negative language that can escalate the conflict, and try to move the conversation to a less public forum.