by Phil Jones | Updated 18 Oct, 2017 | Communicating bad news
So it is now day three of the great blackberry outage, and what do we know? I know emails come to my desktop but not to my blackberry. Then suddenly, 4-8 hours later I get a burst onto my blackberry. Not good when I am out and about. Well if you go to the RIM...
by Phil Jones | Updated 18 Oct, 2017 | Communicating bad news
This weekend I was at a seminar organised by the entrepreneur coaching company that James Caan has set up. One of the presenters Nic Rixon, quoted the following statistic: “When the turn comes, 35% of staff will leave ” Now if this is true its a...
by Phil Jones | Updated 18 Oct, 2017 | Communicating bad news
It is refreshing to hear frankness and honesty from a politician. So I was amused to read this on the FT.com website about the budgetary message once delivered by Enver Hoxha, the late dictator of Albania, who told his people: “Next year will be worse than this...
by Phil Jones | Updated 18 Oct, 2017 | Avoiding communication mistakes, Communicating bad news
Back near the start of the Gulf of Mexico crisis, Barack Obama claimed to have hid foot on the neck of the oil executives in BP ensuring that they solve the problem. An unfortunate metaphor perhaps as it is quite difficult to operate an oil rig with someone’s...
by Phil Jones | Updated 29 Oct, 2018 | Avoiding communication mistakes, Communicating bad news
Watching the developments after the terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I have been frustrated by the reporting of the problems at the nuclear reactor plant at Fukushima. The thing that frustrated me the most was the loose language used in describing the...
by Phil Jones | Updated 9 Feb, 2016 | Avoiding communication mistakes, Communicating bad news, Planning communication
As it it budget day in the UK, (The day the Chancellor announces changes to various tax rates) we have been inundated with speculation about what will be in the Chancellor’s budget. All prior to the announcement. Now it is a tradition that the contents of the...
by Phil Jones | Updated 18 Oct, 2017 | Avoiding communication mistakes, Communicating bad news
Only a few weeks ago Lord Young was booted out of office for telling the truth about the cuts, but at an inappropriate time. He was merely an advisor to the Cabinet. Now we have Vince Cable, a member of the cabinet, telling people “in his constituency”...
by Phil Jones | Updated 20 Oct, 2017 | Communicating bad news, Communicating change
Just at the moment, one of the most difficult places to be must be in finance in the public sector. They are constantly re-doing budgets and subject to negotiations over custs to funding from central government. That is if the organisation still exists: if you are a...
by Phil Jones | 10 May, 2010 | Avoiding communication mistakes, Communicating bad news
Listen out for how people explain problems and faliures. Do they say: “It was the weather. We had a wet summer and numbers were down” “There were roadworks outside the shop for 6 weeks and that discouraged people from visiting” “The...
