Effective Communication

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Introduction

Revealing negative news to an audience requires a high level of honesty, empathy, gracefully and professionally (Cheesebro, T, & Rios, 2010). How the information is passed from one person to another directly affects how the receiver understands and reacts to the news. If not delivered in an appropriate manner and technique, negative news is very damaging and traumatizing to the recipient. In such condition, it is better to choose the appropriate channel of unveiling the news in order to trigger the best response from the recipient because the news is unwanted, disturbing, and unwelcome.

Analysis

A Chilean Mine collapse trapping over 30 miners!

In this situation, the suspense over the safety of the miners was a big issue to the company, its’ employees and to the people related to those trapped. As such, the company representatives needed to establish a feeling of order and control. This is done by informing the bad news to the family members as well as the friends of the people in danger. This is done in a mature manner so that the information neither crushes the hopes of the family members nor does it assure them of the safety of the miners. Upon receiving the sad news, family members are expected to feel insecure, and the company should do their best to calm the fears. Activities such as pitching up camps near the site for the families of the affected to stay close to the site in order to create a feeling of safety and closeness to their loved ones help them a lot.

In addition, the company should provide a counselor to encourage them and to prepare them psychologically in case their loved ones turnout dead. The best way of revealing such information is by use of a face-to-face revelation. Revealing negative news face-to-face may lead to confrontation, however, the method is effective, and necessary as it helps the recipient to understand the emotional elements of the conversation although it needs much preparation.

The person revealing the sad news to the relatives and family members of the miners should be sympathetic, listen to them, and try to meet their emotional needs at these times of difficulties. He should also show them that the right plan is in place to try to rescue their lovers. The primary reason behind the explanation is to meet their emotional needs, which in this case are to show care about the family, and their lovers back at the mines. It also provides them with someone to talk to as they wait for more news. Towards the fellow workers, the information provided to them should be caring and should try to calm the fears of the workers. The company representative should assure the other miners that such an occurrence would never happen again in the future while he should explain how and why the collapse happened.

Before delivering a sad message, one should assess his/her own reaction to the news before he prepares to go tell the message to the family members and/or the friends of the victims of the accident. The news may have a direct impact on the spokesperson so he should give himself time to recover his feelings first e.g. by meditating. It is usually less intimidating for a spokesperson to reveal the news to others, but it is good to acknowledge that the news is going to be even harder to the family members.

The physical environment of the revelation should be comfortable and private. This environment gives the message receiver the space to turn and maybe sit down to try to cope with the reaction of the heavy news. In addition, the information should be transmitted t the right time. After successfully passing the message, the representative should identify the emotions, which might include anger, fear, shock, distress, disbelief, or a combination of these feelings. If the response is anger and yelling, stay calm to avoid harm. If the receiver cries, the spokesperson should comfort them but if they become violent, he should seek help immediately (Dr. Buckman, 2004). The next step is to prepare the victim for the possible outcomes of the accident. Following to what one promises as such times is the greatest honor one can honor the victims. The spokesperson should provide for personal time where possible and he/she should accept their need to grieve where relevant.

An open letter to the family members- delivered face-to-face.

On behalf of the gold and copper mine, I am sorry to report that our mine has collapsed, and some of our employees are trapped inside. The company is so sorry to inform you that your son was part of the team that is trapped in the mine. As per now, no news has come regarding their safety condition but the company is working the best it can to provide information and know how the situation is now. The company is using all its resources and specialists to try to rescue all the workers involved in an accident.

If all goes well, the company expects to have the full details of the health conditions of our loved employees soon. Thanks for your help and consideration.

An open letter to the employees – delivered face-to-face.

We are sorry to bear sad news regarding our fellow friends and workmates, but a section of our mine site has collapsed and trapped about 33 members of our people. This is a rare situation, and the company is doing all in its capabilities to find the cause of the collapse in order to avoid a repetition of the accident in the future. No news has come regarding their safety, but we are assured to work to our capacity to help our employees in these hard times.

Trying to rescue the miners is the best honor we can pay our loyal employees. We have called the Red Cross department, and they are on their way to the site. The company would like to apologize for the accident and assure the employees that nothing like this will happen ever again as we will learn from this and always be careful with the mines.

References

Cheesebro, T, & Rios, F. (2010). Communication in the workplace. Upper Saddle. River, NJ: Pretence hall.

Dr. Robert B, (2004). “Deliver Bad News”, The Expert’s Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to do. P. 112, in Samantha Ettus, Retrieved 17th/7/2014.