“Dave is no longer with us”
“Oh no! What do we do? Send a condolences card to his partner? Do we have contact information? I worked with Dave for three years”
“Oh.. no he just has been let go.”
“Okay.. uh. So who will be the scrum master now?”
“You will have to take on some extra responsibilities while we transition to the new team structure”
“:sadparrot:”
Manager at a standup "got some news. Unfortunately Bob has passed out"
Confused looks.
"What do you mean passed out?"
"Oh I mean he's died"
Horror from everyone there.
No further information was ever given.
Managers are people too and will have their own emotions they are dealing with.
So sure, you have your own stuff to deal with - use the resources you have for that (eg your manager) but when it comes time to face your team, be a professional and don’t shut down in front of them. They need you too.
Source: I’ve been in management positions and had to deal with a bunch of layoffs and yes, the occasional outright actual death.
"Passed out" is just a verbal typo for "passed on", an accepted euphemism in English for someone dying. I think that slip is forgivable, clearly not ideal, but human beings make mistakes. I also agree with the parent comment that it isn't management's place to provide details about the death, but IMHO they have a responsibility to say that's what happened.