Answering Questions about the Downturn |Dodging Landmines

>> Cindy: I know that I need to talk to my team about the current state of the company and these tough economic times but, gosh, I don't even

know where to begin. How do I even start a meaningful conversation without creating more of a problem that I'm trying to solve?

>> Well, first Cindy let me commend you because you're thinking the right things, it's important to talk to the people about this it's

too easy to hold up in your office and hide and that's the wrong approach, so it's good that you're being proactive to have these

conversations. Now, the next thing you want to do is be proactive in preparing. One really good way to prepare for that particular

meeting is to get a regular sheet of paper and separate it into 3 columns, draw a few lines and have the 3 columns be 3 different types

of information. The first is things I know, these are the things you want to tell the team you want to talk about these things. The

second is things I don't know, these are issues you don't have answers to that you think are gonna come up and you want to acknowledge

you'll need to say, "I don't know," when they come up. The third thing is things I can't talk about, maybe you know the answers but

you're not allowed to share upper management decisions something about that, again, be ready to say that if these issues come up.

>> Cindy: Okay, but those are guidelines then to start.

>> Those become the framework and they're the framework you use to open the meeting, you start by saying, "Look, there's 3 kinds of

things, what I know, what I don't know, what I can't share and we're going to talk about all 3 of those, I'm sure and I'll let you

know what category they fall in."

>> Cindy: I want to talk about that category things that I know but I can't share, how do I handle questions about those?

>> Well, first of all you don't want to drive the conversation that way, right, you don't want to dangle it in front of them over and

over and say, "Ha ha, I can't tell you," but if the conversation goes there there's some phrases you want to use to address that and

it depends on the situation. But you might say, for example, "That's being worked on right now by some very smart people." You might

say, "An announcement is scheduled about that next Tuesday." You might say, "I'll find out more about that next week and get back to

you." What you really want to do is let these people know that this thing that they're concerned about, although you can't tell them

the answer yet this issue is being worked and the people in charge know it's an issue; that's an important fact.

>> Cindy: And you're keeping the lines of communication open.

>> Exactly, you're gonna keep talking to them about it.

>> Cindy: Any other advice?

>> You don't want to try and fake it, you don't want to try and act like you know everything and you don't want to try and lie and

tell them everything will be fine, because those will damage your credibility later. Come in human, be a human and just let them know

what you can share.

>> Cindy: In summary?

>> In summary, start with what you know, what you don't know, and what you can't share, open the meeting that way, be clear and overt

as you tell them what you do and don't know and avoid trying to come off like a know it all or trying to lie to make them feel better,

be honest.