How Leaders Deliver News
This is my policy as a manager: If there is news that impacts you directly in a meaningful way, I’m going to try to make sure you hear it…
This is my policy as a manager: If there is news that impacts you directly in a meaningful way, I’m going to try to make sure you hear it from me in a 1:1.
In my ideal world, any announcement that impact lots of people would be socialized via cascading 1:1s so that by the time the announcement comes, everybody already knows the news when the it happens.
Examples: Your job is going to change in some material way, budget cuts are affecting your hiring plans, we are acquiring a company that’s directly relevant to your work, or my role as your leader is changing in a meaningful way. All of these go via 1:1.
Small reversible changes, corporate weather reports, hirings and departures that don’t directly affect you, and so on can all go in the All Hands or team meeting. We should strive to have no surprises in a group setting.
This might sound strange, but it is actually a great feeling as a leader to announce something to a bunch of people who already know it, and who have already reacted in a safe setting. And it also feels really good to hear an announcement when you already know the news.
On the other hand, it’s a terrible feeling to drop some news on people and let them try to process their reactions in realtime. And even worse to be blindsided by something and feel like you have to moderate your reaction in front of your colleagues. But this is how it’s often done, isn’t it?
Leaders have several reasons for preferring to do these things in groups, and none of them are optimizing for the employee experience. If you want to save time, do your 1:1’s standing up. If you want to ensure a consistent message, use slides in your 1:1. You’ll get to share and enjoy the experience as a team, if it’s that kind of news, when you share it the second time.
It *should* go without saying that this goes for layoffs. Layoffs must be avoided, but when they cannot they must be done 1:1 (more precisely 2:1 with HR.) If you are laying off 10 people, do 10 1:1’s. 100 people? Do 100 1:1's.
(I’m not involved in any layoffs! We’re hiring!)
100 15-minute 1:1’s is about a day’s work for four well-hydrated teams of two. I would find it very inspiring if the person whose decision it was to eliminate the positions, like the CEO, chose to be personally present on those teams. At a minimum, an executive who is sharing responsibility for the decision should be present in every firing.
As much as I can, I’m trying to approach leadership like a Product Manager: Focus ruthlessly on the experience I want people to have, and work backwards from there.
Let me know if that sounds reasonable to you.