Techniques to Presenting Bad News

There are numerous way to give bad news to a superior directly and indirectly:

• In Germany, a low-context nation, they tend to use buffer. 
• In Japan, a high-context country, they try to prevent discord by using a number of techniques to indicate no without being forced to say it. In a conversation they may respond with silence or a counter-question, such as, "Why do you ask?". To save face for themselves and the person asking the question they may just change the subject or tell a white lie.
• Sometimes for the Japanese the answer sounds like a yes, "I will do my best, but if I cannot, I hope you will understand."
• If the response is "Yes, but..." or Yes followed by an apology, you should be aware that all of these responses tend to mean No.

 In China, Westerners have a hard time understanding the "hints" given to them by communicators:

What They Say:                                  What They Could Mean:

• I agree                                      I agree with 15 percent of what you say.
• We might be able to                  Not a chance.
• We will consider                     WE will, but the real decision maker will not.
• That is a little too much              That is outrageous.

The Following Video includes some mistakes that CEO's make when presenting bad news to their employees.