Who to tell first

There is really no first... but there is a top five list

• A close coworker of same or higher rank but not your immediate supervisor (they can lend some objectivity)
• Your immediate supervisor (it is better that they hear it first from you rather than someone else)
• Another person in authority (this is an alternate person to whom you can appeal in the event of an incident)
• A person in another department (this is good for determining how far your rumour mill is reaching)
• The person(s) you supervise

These are hard conversations, and you may have to replace your first picks.

It is generally done outside the office,... cars,.. restaurants etc.

Do ask any who do not support you to
Respect your confidentiality (ie. they do not have to know that they are one of many, you can say you were confiding in them, and establish that as the rules of the conversation from the beginning)

Hopefully this gives you time to approach the replacements.

But once you have a network around you, ... you can be freer in your conversations...

And very quickly... the rumour mill will do the rest.