June 7, 2006Shame-free Clarification
I have a large format printer in my office which is used to supply training materials to various departments throughout the company. Recently I received the following order by email:”I need to order 7 posters for TC100 project. These are the posters that Margo has been working on.” - J
Here is my response:
J- “I’m a little confused. There are 10 posters all together. Are you asking for 7 copies of each or are there 7 specific posters for which you need 1 copy each?”
While the confusion was legitimate, Jerry was not uncomfortable with my response and immediately clarified the order to mean 7 copies of each of the 10 posters. He also included a short but sincere apology for not being clear in the original email.
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You were being overly picky, I think. J sent you 10 posters and wanted 7 copies. Seemed pretty clear to me.
Comment by Rose — June 7, 2006 @ 1:45 pm
I love this! I try to do the same thing. People seem to think you can read their minds, or are in a hurry and don’t realize they need to clarify. They also may not really know what they should be asking for.
Because I am a methodical person, I just slow down when someone asks me for something in an unclear way. I have even told people “I need to ask you a few questions so I can understand how to help you.” Hurray for speaking strong and for asking for clarification without accusing or demeaning someone!
Comment by Iris Shull — June 8, 2006 @ 2:02 pm
I see your point. However, I wanted to be certain of the request before I started printing. The requesting department pays $6.50 for each poster. There is a very big difference in their budget between 7 posters ($45.50) and 70 posters ($455.00).
Comment by Robert Harris — June 16, 2006 @ 8:29 am