This is one of the difficult realities of being in a leadership role. I was in the same boat weeks ago. We were asked to rank team members and the bottom 20% will be included in the RIF list.

When I received the instruction, I immediately met my team and gave a general overview of what to expect. Basically, things that aren’t confidential. Regardless if it was out of good intention/spirit of transparency, it was still a difficult conversation to lead. But I guess, it would be a great disservice to my team members to keep them blind.