Own the "bad news" and build trust with stakeholders
Your project has hit a problem and you need to get stakeholders across it, so what do you do?
You provide real clarity, and you demonstrate ownership. This in turn builds trust.
How you communicate what is going on and what you're doing about it makes a real difference...
Here's a few simple examples:
Weak: "That's not something we can commit to right now."
Reframed: "We can't commit to that today. We'll come back to you by [date] with a clear answer, once we've assessed the impact."
Weak: "We're a bit behind."
Reframed: "We're four weeks behind. Our recovery plan closes half that gap - the rest is a decision for you to make by Friday: extend the release date by two weeks, or move scope out. Our recommendation is... "
Weak: "There's a gap in what we understood the requirements to be."
Reframed: "We've identified a gap between what was scoped and what's actually needed. Here's what's missing, why we missed it initially, the options for closing it, and our proposal."
Recap
Own the problem and be specific.
Don't sugar-coat or play anything down.
Call problems out early and clearly, then follow through on actions.
That builds trust and support.
This will make a big difference in whether people trust your grip on a project - which really matters when things aren't going well.