Some of the hardest conversations I was part of were about health benefits. Premiums kept going up. To stay within budget, the company needed employees to pay a bigger share and to accept less coverage. The unions wanted the opposite: better benefits, less out of pocket.
“We don’t have the money” was the answer from our side. The unions didn’t believe it. And I understood why. Their members were working hard, and from where they sat, they were being asked to give up something that mattered more to them than almost anything, because it protected their families. Telling them the budget was tight, without showing them anything, sounded like an excuse.
What they asked for told me exactly what a believable answer needed. They wanted to see the numbers. And they wanted to hear it from someone they trusted, someone who would tell them honestly that we were doing everything we could to look after them, and keeping the premium increase as small as we possibly could.
“Cut every word that sounds like a memo.”Joe Kim
Try it
Why: Crews believe answers that are specific, dated and give a reason.
How: Rewrite the answer below so it says what you heard, what you'll do, by when, and why. Watch the meter fill.
For this example, the crew asked for more schedule notice. You can post next week’s shifts by Friday and check with both shifts on Monday. Rewrite the vague answer using those facts and why notice matters.
The believability meter
“We hear you and we’re looking into it.”
What this means: Read your version out loud. If you wouldn't say it to someone's face, change it, then post it as your hear-back.
Show your work
That’s the whole lesson, and it applies to a lot more than benefits. An answer is believed when three things are true:
It’s specific. Not “we’re working on it.” What you heard, exactly, and what you’ll do, exactly.
It shows its work. If the answer is “we can’t,” show why, as far as you can share. Numbers, dates, the real reason. People can accept a hard answer they can check far more easily than a soft one they can’t.
It comes from someone they trust, in that person’s own words. A memo from the top lands differently from a supervisor who looks the crew in the eye and says, “Here’s what I know, and here’s what I’m doing.”
When Heardby asks you to post what you heard, what you’ll do, and by when, this is what it’s asking for. Write it the way you’d say it to the person who raised it. Cut every word that sounds like a memo. If you’re asking the crew to accept something hard, tell them why, and tell them what you did to make it less hard.
Joe Kim
One thing to do this week
Write your three lines (what you heard, what you’ll do, by when), then read them out loud. Anything you wouldn’t say to someone’s face, rewrite.
Practice
You have to tell the crew their share of a cost is going up. Give a specific answer, show the reason, and say what was done to keep it as small as possible.
What you’ll do: You'll explain the health premium increase to a crew member, using the facts in the situation below.
Try it with a real conversation
Why: Trying the words here makes them easier to say at work.
How: Start practice, read the other person’s opening, then reply; choose “I’m done — get feedback” when you’re ready.
Heardby doesn’t save your practice. The AI service handles replies the same way it handles interviews; see the Privacy Policy.
- The situation
- Next year's health premiums are rising. Employees' share will go from $40 to $55 a paycheck. The company covered most of the increase and chose a plan that kept the same doctors.
- Who you're talking to
- a crew member (AI) who stops you after the huddle.
- Your goal
- give an answer they'll believe: specific, with the real reason, and what was done to keep it smaller.
- How to start
- answer their question.
Make up any details you need. The other person won't invent facts for you. When you've said what you need to, usually after 4 to 6 replies, tap I'm done for feedback.
Checking practice access…