Mastodawn

I don't know how to explain to my boss that I need her to be clear about what she wants, so that she doesn't end up with a bunch of conflicting information because she keeps asking for data in different ways, as has happened this week. I don't know how to explain.

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Kim Spence-Jones 🇬🇧😷1d ago

@RolloTreadway
Maybe responding with an email of the kind “I just want to check that I’ve understood correctly that what you are asking for is …”?
That has two desirable features. Most importantly, it gets you to define what your objective is, in ways your boss can’t criticise when you complete the task, but it also implies that the problem is your potential for misunderstanding, rather than your bosses inability to state the task, so it avoids direct criticism by using self-deprecation.

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UkeleleEric

@KimSJ @RolloTreadway It's also quite probable that your boss doesn't really know what she wants (or is pressured from above), so makes requests in a vague way. Or maybe no-one has actually asked her to elucidate before, and the majority just do what they think was wanted, and she doesn't evaluate what actually gets done? Sometimes it can just be down to a difference in communication styles, as well. You need to carefully ask whether 'example1' or 'example2' is required.