THERE'S NEVER A GOOD TIME FOR BAD NEWS
Years ago I was the PM for an insulation company in the central states.? I had taken an order from our GF for a truck full of foamglas to be delivered to a job he was on five hours away in Ohio.? When the truck arrived, I got a call from the GF.? He said the packing slips from the driver didn’t match the order he put in.? After a few minutes, I discovered the error.? I had taken his order correctly, but when I attached the excel spreadsheet order to the email I sent to the supplier, I mistakenly attached a previous order I had sent a few months back.? There was $17,000 of foamglas on that truck we didn’t need.
?
WOW.? I felt the blood literally rush out of my head and I got a little dizzy.? I told the GF I would call him back.? It took me about ten minutes to gather myself.? My office was connected directly to my boss, the VP of the company.? That one instant of a thought went through my mind – “Is there anyway I can cover this up?”? But an instant later I was 100% certain of two things:? 1) it’s not the right thing to do, and 2) there is no good time to deliver bad news.
?
I knew I had to let the VP know pretty quick because he needed to know, and also, I had to get the real order out to the vendor and get that glass cut and delivered or we were going to be behind schedule.
?
But I did take about 45 minutes to pull together some information, because I knew the questions he was going to ask:
“How did this happen?” (100% my mistake, I sent the wrong spreadsheet)
“Can we send it back? (no, it is special cut material)
“Can we use some of it on another job?” (maybe)
“Have you sent the correct order to the vendor” (yes)
?
I walked into his office and said, “I need to talk to you” and closed the door behind me.? As any supervisor knows, that is NEVER good news, and he instantly straightened his back up in his chair and gave me his full attention.? I told him what I had done.? At the end of the conversation we determined we could use about half the material on another job, but we would have to pay the freight to move it.? Some of the material we could install on piping, but it would be thicker that what the specs called for, and some of it we could double layer.? But it seemed we would have about $4,000 of odd size and thickness material that we would probably have to toss in the dumpster.
?
He lectured me a little about double checking all material attachments in the future, and then said two things.? He appreciated me coming in and fessing up, and for the time being he was not going to take this any higher and I was not to do so either.
?
In one of Jack Welch’s books, he calls it, “The Whack”.? That “Oh Shit” moment.? Whatever your issue is, here are a few thoughts to remember:
?
1.???? THERE IS NEVER A GOOD TIME TO DELIVER BAD NEWS.? Just do it.
2.???? Own you Whack.? You made the mistake.? Don’t try to hide it or blame someone else.
3.???? If you are honest and straightforward, chance are much greater you keep your job.