I was listening to a podcast by Pete Sazzero, “Emotionally healthy discipleship”. One of this points was to stop mind reading, instead clarify your expectations. But what if you aren’t the person with the expectations?
The answer is the same thing. Whether you are the person giving direction or the person receiving direction you still need to clarify the expectations. If you’re receiving the expectations I have two steps for you:
First, if you have no idea what they are requesting then ask questions to clarify things. If you believe you are sure then clearly state what you are hearing back to them in your own words. “So, I will create the report on employee satisfaction and deliver it to the director on Tuesday.”
Second, document everything. Take notes on the discussion and send them to the person giving direction. In fact take notes on every meeting and send them to everyone in the meeting. Even if you trust everyone there is still a chance of a misunderstanding, which will be cleared up through that verification. If no one responds then you can use that e-mail as proof that you verified everything. Make sure you state that silence is consent.
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