How do you handle communicating bad news to a fellow worker or subordinate?

One of the toughest parts of communication can be delivering bad news to people that you work with and for whom you care. Place more emphasis on your communication skill level rather than focusing on your style. Key points to touch on are your non-defensive communication skills, being an active listener, your ability to mirror, validate and empathize. When we communicate non-defensively, we'll objectify a situation instead of objectifying a person as the source of a problem. This is accomplished by asking clarifying questions so that you can gather information before casting blame. Objectifying the situation with an emotionally mature understanding of where things went wrong focuses on how communication can be improved for the team. Assure the interviewer that you can handle this type of task in a clear, concise, and professional manner.