One of the most important tasks of a CEO is to have good communication with employees. This includes giving good news and bad news. It is precisely with the latter that we truly see the level of professional preparation of a senior official. We now know how Steve Jobs achieved this more than twenty years ago and how certain managers continue to apply this technique today.
This is how Steve Jobs announced the good news
We start with what we all love to hear, the good news. Steve Jobs He gave them in a very special way. He first commented on all the benefits of the topic to be discussed and finally confirmed the obvious. According to Jobs, we must take the freedom and the ability to stretch thingsmaking it more exciting and memorable.
The best example of how to deliver good news was the launch of iTunes for Windows.
Steve Jobs was the king of presentations. His speeches were memorable for another reason. In this case we want to see how he announced that iTunes would finally be available on Windows. If you didn’t live through that era, the rivalry between Microsoft and Apple was so strong that offering iTunes on Windows was a revolution. To make this important announcement, SSteve Jobs created a complete 17 minute story. Throughout the presentation, he discussed the features of iTunes and the iPod. It was at the end, when it seemed like there was nothing left, when…
We have one more feature: today we announced that the second generation of iTunes works not only on Mac, but also on Windows. Exactly the same on Mac and Windows. iTunes for Windows is probably the best Windows app ever written.
In this way, Steve Jobs gave a main lesson on how to deliver good news create a story and make the audience laugh. Below we leave you the video so you can see exactly how this moment happened.
You also have to know how to break bad news
Throughout the management of a business, bad moments can be experienced, such as a reduction in the number of employees, team reassignments, project cancellations… In these cases, it is better to do the opposite of good news: be direct, without excuses, communicate as early as possible and directly to the people concerned. Often, to hide bad news, we try to “decorate” it with words, facts, and even suspenseful deadlines. This is what no CEO recommends.
In recent years, and especially after the pandemic, many technology companies have found themselves forced to reduce their workforce. Here are some examples of how to break bad news:
- Selling power : Within the hour that follows, employees initially affected by this decision will receive an email informing them.
- Google: We have some difficult news to share. We have decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 positions. We have already sent a separate email to affected employees.
- Band: If you are one of those affected, you will receive a notification email within the next 15 minutes.
As you can see, these three messages have in common a direct approach and a very short duration of action, generally a few minutes. After analyzing these different cases, it becomes clear to us that bad news must be delivered directly and as early as possible, while with the right ones you can treat yourself and maximize their impact more than you initially thought.
Cover image | David Geller on Flickr
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