The bad news is …………
Ever experienced how a car feels like when you put the fourth gear direct from the first gear? That is what I am experiencing in week 4 of Term 2. Suddenly the lull is over and the storm is looming large. In the midst of all this, I have to deliver bad news. Nothing can be worse than this.
This afternoon, it was like a hurricane. 1245 hours – the lectures get over. Neil Marshall (Britain) our stream representative takes over to share some information. The clock ticks on. At 1258 hours, I and my team start to panic. In the middle of Neil’s sentence, we get up from our chairs and lift our bags to rush out. His complaining voice drowns behind us. I find myself rushing to the TV studio – I thought I was flying. 1300 hours – our appointed time slot - we reach the studio and enter to meet Paul and Hannah – the actors who will be with us for the next 90 minutes in the presentation and Communication Skills (PCS) tutorial. The tutorial is on “how to give bad news”!
Flashback to last Friday – Steve Carver had taught us that there are times when MBA’s have to keep aside their logical hats and use their hearts and emotions. And giving bad news is never logical.
While Steve’s voice was echoing in my mind, in my rush, I had completely forgotten what my role was. Last afternoon, we had split up the three role plays amongst the six of us. As we sat down in the studio, we were informed that only three of us would be doing the role plays. It was Becky, I and Dennis – in that order.
Becky had to fire her employee. The camera whirred and Paul became the employee to be at the receiving end. I had difficulty remembering that he is an actor – it was for real. Becky did her role well. 15 minutes had passed by and I was sitting there watching the drama. It was then time for feedback to Becky – posture, eye contact, questioning skills, listening skills, etc. etc.
I was next and in the role as the MD of a company I had to tell Jo – the character played by Hannah – that she had been passed over for a new position in the company. This was adding to the many firsts at Cranfield in my life. As Jo walks into the room, I find myself getting nervous. I was on camera, my performance getting recorded. And soon enough, I had mentioned the bad news to Jo. As I begin to explain the reasons of the decision to Jo, I see tears in her eyes and my lips go dry. Thank God I was seated.
I continue on, trying to keep away the logic and instead use empathy to soften the blow. I had no clue how I was doing. 15 minutes were over.
Feedback time – I was staring at Hannah – was she acting? Gosh, the tears were real. In my shaken up broken words, I goofed up, stating something like “….tears in her ears……..” and everyone was rolling away with laughter. Except for this, I had faired well enough. But got a few pointers from the tutors where I need to improve.
In the last role play for our team, it was time for Dennis to give bad news for indiscipline. He did a good job. There were a few observations from our tutors on how can he improve, what verbal cues he missed, etc.
As I walked out the door with my team, I was wondering it was just last Friday when we saw the video on how to give bad news. Today, I found myself using some of the points I observed then. Can learning happen so fast? It can and it does happen. The technique of teaching is what makes it happen. I am sure if I had read all this in theory from a book, after 3 days, I would have even forgotten who the author was. But these are lessons of a lifetime……….and no one will ever forget them.
This afternoon, it was like a hurricane. 1245 hours – the lectures get over. Neil Marshall (Britain) our stream representative takes over to share some information. The clock ticks on. At 1258 hours, I and my team start to panic. In the middle of Neil’s sentence, we get up from our chairs and lift our bags to rush out. His complaining voice drowns behind us. I find myself rushing to the TV studio – I thought I was flying. 1300 hours – our appointed time slot - we reach the studio and enter to meet Paul and Hannah – the actors who will be with us for the next 90 minutes in the presentation and Communication Skills (PCS) tutorial. The tutorial is on “how to give bad news”!
Flashback to last Friday – Steve Carver had taught us that there are times when MBA’s have to keep aside their logical hats and use their hearts and emotions. And giving bad news is never logical.
While Steve’s voice was echoing in my mind, in my rush, I had completely forgotten what my role was. Last afternoon, we had split up the three role plays amongst the six of us. As we sat down in the studio, we were informed that only three of us would be doing the role plays. It was Becky, I and Dennis – in that order.
Becky had to fire her employee. The camera whirred and Paul became the employee to be at the receiving end. I had difficulty remembering that he is an actor – it was for real. Becky did her role well. 15 minutes had passed by and I was sitting there watching the drama. It was then time for feedback to Becky – posture, eye contact, questioning skills, listening skills, etc. etc.
I was next and in the role as the MD of a company I had to tell Jo – the character played by Hannah – that she had been passed over for a new position in the company. This was adding to the many firsts at Cranfield in my life. As Jo walks into the room, I find myself getting nervous. I was on camera, my performance getting recorded. And soon enough, I had mentioned the bad news to Jo. As I begin to explain the reasons of the decision to Jo, I see tears in her eyes and my lips go dry. Thank God I was seated.
I continue on, trying to keep away the logic and instead use empathy to soften the blow. I had no clue how I was doing. 15 minutes were over.
Feedback time – I was staring at Hannah – was she acting? Gosh, the tears were real. In my shaken up broken words, I goofed up, stating something like “….tears in her ears……..” and everyone was rolling away with laughter. Except for this, I had faired well enough. But got a few pointers from the tutors where I need to improve.
In the last role play for our team, it was time for Dennis to give bad news for indiscipline. He did a good job. There were a few observations from our tutors on how can he improve, what verbal cues he missed, etc.
As I walked out the door with my team, I was wondering it was just last Friday when we saw the video on how to give bad news. Today, I found myself using some of the points I observed then. Can learning happen so fast? It can and it does happen. The technique of teaching is what makes it happen. I am sure if I had read all this in theory from a book, after 3 days, I would have even forgotten who the author was. But these are lessons of a lifetime……….and no one will ever forget them.
posted by Sandeep Gupta at
8:24 pm
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