Business Communication Chapter 8 Homework Bad news Messages Also The Book Show Several

Business Communication: In Person, In Print, Online

INSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE

Chapter 8

Bad-News Messages

Overview

Bad-news messages are written to convey negative news clearly and to

preserve goodwill with the reader. When planning a bad-news

message, effective communicators consider the communication

context, analyze their audience, and choose an appropriate medium.

Then, communicators decide how to organize the message, explain the

decision, give the bad news, and close the message.

Learning Objectives

• Plan a bad–news message.

• Write a message that rejects an idea.

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Quick Links for Chapter 8

Teaching Suggestions

Resources

LO1: Plan a bad-news message.

INTRODUCE the planning process for bad-news messages that are used to

achieve communication objectives.

INSTRUCT students to work in teams. Ask each team to identify several

business situations when a negative message needs to be delivered. You

may start with a PPT example. Instruct each team to determine the

appropriate media type for the message in each situation (e.g., face-to-face

meeting, phone call, or email) and to justify their choice. Ask teams to

share the results with the class.

14-week business: Encourage students to refer to their own workplace

experiences.

Resources

LO1: Plan a bad-news message.

Invite students to discuss their drafts with a partner or share with the class

for feedback.

Similarly, students can be asked to work on the reasoning and closing for

the message.

Resources

LO2: Write a message that rejects an idea.

INTRODUCE principles of writing a message that rejects an idea.

INSTRUCT students to work with a partner. Ask students to take turns

introducing and rejecting ideas by applying the techniques described in the

textbook. Encourage the student with a rejected idea to give feedback on

how the rejection was successful (or not) in maintaining goodwill,

explaining the reasons, etc.

Resources

LO3: Write a message that refuses a favor.

INTRODUCE ways to refuse a favor in a polite but clear message.

Resources

LO4: Write a message that refuses a customer request.

INTRODUCE an approach for refusing a customer request without

losing goodwill.

14-week business: Ask students to share stories of how they

communicated with customers and delivered refusals in their

professional experiences.

Your management team has to deal with a lot of post-shooting

communication, especially from concerned customers. One of the

customers who was outside of the restaurant on the day of the incident

sent you a request for compensation. The customer claimed that the

Resources

LO4: Write a message that refuses a customer request.

incident had scarred him psychologically, so he had to visit a therapist

to regain emotional balance. He asks you to cover his medical bills.

Because your company has no liability for the situation, you plan to

refuse the request.

Dear Manager,

As a loyal customer of Taco Bell, I was disgusted by the photo of

the young man licking a stack of shells. I know that the company

said these shells weren’t sold to customers, but I am not

convinced.

Thank you,

Disgusted Customer

Of course, a store manager cannot grant these requests. But students

can respond in a way that might reassure this skeptical customer.

Resources

LO5: Write a bad-news announcement.

INTRODUCE bad-news announcements and how they differ from

negative replies and refusals.

SHOW PPT examples of bad news about normal operations. Discuss

how the audience’s role and history with the company impacts the

writing.

14-week business: ASK students to recall the latest bad news

announcement from their company or a previous employer. What do

they recall about the message and how well it was received by

employees?

• What is your assessment of the chair of Yahoo’s board firing

Bartz over the phone? What could be the rationale for

terminating her over the phone rather than in person?

• What is your assessment of Bartz’s email to Yahoo employees?

Do you consider this appropriate, inappropriate, or something

in between?

Resources

LO5: Write a bad-news announcement.

travel for an in-person meeting. You might see what students come up

with on their own, and then discuss these possibilities.

ASK students to draft a bad-news announcement for this situation

using the proper techniques. Share and discuss the results with the

class.

INSTRUCT students to work in teams. Refer to the handout “Checklist

for Bad-News Messages” (also in the book).

Solutions to Exercises

3Ps in Practice: Announcing the Close of a Division

Process

1. What is the purpose of your message?

To convey to the employees that Yippee’s video services will be discontinued.

2. Describe your audience.

3. At what point in the message will you convey the bad news?

4. Write the first sentence of your email. Be professional, yet sensitive to

employees’ concerns.

Thanks to all of you, Yippee has grown a successful video service that’s home

to more than 1 million users.

5. How will you explain the reasons for the decision?

The reasons justifying the decision should take up the majority of the message,

6. Write the last sentence of your email. Strive for a forward-looking approach, but

be careful not to minimize employees’ feelings.

Product

Dear Yippee Video Employees:

Thanks to all of you, Yippee has grown a successful video service that’s home to more than 1

million users. Our video service is the result of innovation and dedication from each of you.

to stay competitive, but the service is no longer viable—and there’s nothing we can do about it.

We have no choice but to leave video to the bigger players in the market.

Over the next week, your manager and HR representative will meet with you personally to

discuss options with you. We have appointed a transition team to help phase out the service by

July 1. I hope that I can count on each of you to help us during the transition.

Again, I am sorry to deliver this news, particularly to such a hard-working, talented team of

1. Analyze a situation when you received bad news.

Student responses will vary based on their own personal experiences. Be sure to discuss what

made the situations effective or ineffective. Students may discuss any situation, but work

2. Organize a bad–news message.

• After three on-site job interviews, you decline an offer for a summer internship with an

alumnus of your college.

Less direct: You have built a relationship with this person, and he or she has spent time

interviewing you, probably expecting a “yes” response. But students shouldn’t wait too long

if this is a college friend, it is likely a close relationship and doesn’t require the softer tone of an

indirect message.

• You decline an employee’s vacation request because he wants to be away during your busy

season.

Indirect: This employee reports to the writer and may be emotionally invested in the response.

3. Practice writing buffers.

Below are sample buffer statements for each situation.

• After three on–site job interviews, you decline an offer for a summer internship with an

alumnus of your college.

I enjoyed meeting you and learning about the data analyst position.

4. Analyze a rejection letter.

Student groups will analyze the rejection letters differently based on their own opinions;

however, the letter does effectively consider the audience by including a small buffer, and

then getting right to the point. Students may consider adding options for the job candidate.

An example to rewrite the letter is the following:

Sincerely,

[Name]

[Title]

[Company Name]

The following note applies to Exercises 5 – 8, rejecting an idea.

Exercises 5 – 8 involve rejecting an idea. These can be difficult messages to write because of the

time and energy the person put into developing the proposal. The key here is to educate the