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See Research StudiesThere is only one thing worse than delivering bad news to your boss; that is not delivering bad news when you know trouble is brewing. Letting your boss be surprised by bad news is a cardinal sin.
No organization escapes bad news forever. Budgets are not met. Deliveries are late. Machines don’t work. People are caught with their hands in the cookie jar. It is essential to your career success to learn how to deliver bad news, as well as how to receive it. There are at least four major things wrong with failing to blow the whistle when you see bad news coming. Be aware of them as you strive to reach your career goals.
First: Ignoring bad news won’t make it go away. It’s bound to surface sooner or later, probably at the worst possible time.
Second: Most problems can be fixed, wholly or in part, if addressed soon enough.
Third: Left unattended, most problems simply get bigger and more difficult with time.
Fourth: When you fail to report the bad news, you are leaving your boss vulnerable to being blindsided with a problem and the accusation from his boss that he doesn’t have control of his organization.
Ramon Greenwood
For more advice on how to accelerate your career during tough times, participate in Ramon Greenwood’s widely read Common Sense At Work Blog. His new e-book, How To Get The Pay Raise You’ve Earned, is available from Amazon.