8.4 Research Spotlight

Even if professionals have prior experience providing bad news to others, most endure stress while creating and delivering the news itself. Once the individuals become aware of the need to communicate bad news, they must acclimate to the circumstances and find coping strategies to manage their thoughts and feelings prior to the creation and delivery of their message. Delcourt et al. (2025) examined 192 bad news disclosures via in-depth interviews with 114 front line employees (FLEs) working in multiple service-sectors and continents. Through thematic analysis, the researchers identified four coping strategies FLEs enact to deal with their own emotions before delivering bad news: emotion focused coping, problem focused coping, avoidance focused coping, and combined coping response. See Figure 8.2 for descriptions of each type of coping strategy.

Emotion focused coping transpire when the sender vents to others to gain support and feedback from others related to the problem. This type of coping is especially utilized when the recipient is not employe by the same organization.

Problem focused coping occurs when the sender refers to past experiences delivering bad news to produce the appropriate action. Sender may also attempt to put themselves in the place of the receiver to determine possible outcomes before deciding on how to proceed.