So the Bulls fired Vinny Del Negro today. Given the recent events and “dust up” among the Bulls management I would have liked to be a fly on the wall during the meeting that Jerry Riensdorf had with Vinny, John Paxson and Gar Forman. The higher up you get in any organization the more you have to deal with problems, and while I hope that your executive team doesn’t start shoving each other and pulling on their ties, if you run the place it’s going to be your problem. Sooner or later you are going to have to fire someone, perhaps several people; in fact you might get to where you are kind of good at it. If your not to that place yet here are my 5 tips for saying, “You’re Fired”.

When the time comes when you have really given up on one of your team members, you know it’s time for them to go, that sense of dread starts to set in. Maybe you are dreading the actual conversation, or maybe you are dreading having to search for someone new, but we all tend to procrastinate having this conversation. To Jerry’s credit he didn’t – as soon as possible after the season ended he sat down and had a conversation with Vinny – and we should too. Any time that you spend avoiding the conversation is only going to make it worse. More time would have just left Vinny hanging in uncertainty and a cloud over your head.

Once the decision has been made, have the conversation. The conversation you are going to have should be brief; “I’ve made a decision, we are going in a different direction. Let me review this paperwork for you about what this means for you…” This isn’t a time to recount what went wrong, or a list of their failings. To do that just invites a conversation and a debate, when in fact you are delivering news. If they want to go over reasons for your decision offer to make an appointment next week to sit down and do that, but the purpose of your meeting is to inform them of your decision and it’s implications (e.g. turn in your keys, your health plan is… Your severance is…) By all accounts Jerry didn’t do this, but wanted to rehash all that lead to this point. As a result Vinny made his pitch for why he should stay, when in fact the decision was already made that he would go. This is a waste of everyone’s time. Just deliver the news and move on.

Helping your employee to move on should be a key part of the goal of your conversation with them. They are fired, that’s a fact, and no amount of rehashing (with you or in their own head) is going to change that. In the Bull’s situation any time that Vinny spends trying to defend himself, or recast the story of the firing is wasted time. He needs to concentrate on where he will be coaching next season; and the Bulls should do everything in their power to make that happen. This is why some companies will supply outplacement, the outplacement counselor’s job is to move the employee through the transition as quickly as possible. I thought Gar forman did a great job of not dwelling on what was wrong with Vinny and instead looking at what the Bulls need to do going forward. He did a great job of that and so should you.

Terminating an employee is a bad day for everyone; and no one wants to be an “expert” at it. But if you are going to lead a team, enforce standards and build an environment that fosters success for everyone you need to be ready to have conversations that eliminate the poor performers. If you do it well it’s not less painful, but the pain doesn’t last as long for you, or your employees.

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Brad Farris is a small business advisor with Anchor Advisors, Ltd. in Chicago, Il. Since 2001 Anchor Advisors has been helping creative professional firms to grow, by helping them clarify their purpose, get the most from their people, keep their eye on key performance measures, and implement consistent processes. Brad is also the author of The Business Owner’s Champion: 6 Practices to Build your Nerve and your Business.