As you're packing up to leave the office on a Friday afternoon, your boss tells you that she'd like a status report from you as soon as possible

Question

You head out for the weekend and complete the status report first thing Monday morning. When your boss receives it, she complains that she needed it sooner. How could you have avoided this breakdown in communication?
What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: The problem is most likely a difference in the interpretation of "as soon as possible." The boss seems to have intended the report to be completed before the employee leaves on Friday or at some point over the weekend. The employee interprets the statement to mean as soon as she is back in the office again. There are two ways that this could have been avoided. The employee could have been an active listener, and responded to acknowledge her understanding of what was said. If the employee had asked, "OK, so do you want this report from me first thing Monday morning?" the boss would have corrected this misinterpretation and said clearly when she actually needed it. The other way to avoid this issue would have been for the boss to refrain from using an ambiguous term like "as soon as possible," that is so open to interpretation. If she had specified that she needed it that afternoon or by Sunday morning, etc., this problem would also have been avoided.