- Here is what happened
- Painful to start
- Yet the fact of initiating it lets you gain trust
- You retain the control of when and how does this conversation happen
- Here is why / Here's what I've learned
- It can be embarrassing
- Acknowledging the embarrassment often makes things worse
- Explaining reasons without clear understanding may create speculations by jumping to conclusions too quickly
- Emphasize that your knowledge is incomplete and you're still in the process of gathering information
- Be aware of your tendency to assume the worst
- Here's what I'm planning to do
- Asking immediately "what should we do?" diminishes the power and influence
- Bringing the "here's what we do" too quickly does not allow the counterparty to share responsibility and engage into creative thinking
- Emphasize that you're planning to do based on your current understanding of the root cause to signal openness
- Ensure decision-making rights before moving on