BRX Pro Tip: Bad News Fast
Stone Payton : Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton, Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, after 21 years, we have quite a few operating disciplines that have really served us well. One of the most prominent, and it is a hard and fast rule around our shop, bad news fast.
Lee Kantor: Yeah, like you said, this is one of our core values, and I think it’s so important for other people to at least consider this being one of their core values. Here are four reasons why you should implement it today. Number one, addressing issues openly can boost motivation and satisfaction. I think people don’t – that they underestimate when you let something fester, how it kind of depletes the morale of your team. So I think it’s important to just be known for, look, if something happens, we’re going to deal with it right away. It’s not going to linger. It’s not going to fester.
Lee Kantor: Number two, avoiding difficult conversations can create a toxic work environment and destroy your company’s culture. If you allow a person to be toxic in your environment and you’re not addressing an issue, it’s going to permeate through your whole organization. They’re going to – other people are going to think that’s okay, and they’re going to, you know, not be willing to do extra because they know that somebody else is getting away with not, you know, misbehaving. So I think it’s so important to, again, to deal with bad news fast.
Lee Kantor: Number three, resolving conflicts and clarifying expectations will improve individual and organizational performance. So resolve these issues fast. Let everybody know; if something happens, let’s deal with it right away. Let’s not let this stuff hang around.
Lee Kantor: And ultimately, bad news fast actually builds trust and stronger relationships. Open communication fosters respect and understanding between the leaders and the employees and all the team members. And if you can overcome some of this fear of conflict or conflict avoidance and engage in these kinds of difficult conversations, everyone is going to benefit because it’s going to foster a more positive, productive, and growth-oriented environment.
