Supervisor Foundations · Lesson 2.1

CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS PREVENT AVOIDABLE FAILURE

A supervisor may know exactly what they mean.

The employee does not automatically know.

Instructions such as:

“Handle it.”
“Do it properly.”
“Take care of the customer.”
“Fix that issue.”
“Prepare everything.”

may make sense to the person speaking.

But they may be too vague for the person receiving them.

A good instruction should answer enough of the following questions:

What exactly needs to be done?
What result is expected?
When is it needed?
Is there a specific procedure?
Is there anything the employee must not do?
Who should be informed?
When should the employee ask for help?

Poor

“Sort out the customer issue.”

Better

“Please call the customer, confirm which item was missing from the delivery, apologize for the inconvenience, and let me know before offering any refund.”

WORKPLACE EXAMPLES

EXAMPLE 1 — RETAIL

Poor: “Arrange the shelf.”

BETTER RESPONSE

“Please restock the toiletries section, place the newer stock behind the existing stock, remove damaged packaging and tell me if anything is running low.”

EXAMPLE 2 — SCHOOL

Poor: “Contact the parent.”

BETTER RESPONSE

“Please call Mrs. Adeyemi, explain that tomorrow’s meeting has moved to 2:00 p.m., and ask her to confirm whether she can attend.”

EXAMPLE 3 — RESTAURANT

Poor: “Check the tables.”

BETTER RESPONSE

“Before the lunch rush, make sure every table is clean, menus are available and any damaged chair is reported.”

EXAMPLE 4 — OFFICE

Poor: “Prepare the report.”

BETTER RESPONSE

“Please update the weekly sales report with figures through Thursday and send me the draft by 3:00 p.m. for review.”

Remember

A clear instruction reduces guessing.

Workplace action

Think of one instruction you gave recently. Could another person interpret it differently from what you intended?

Quick Check

Which instruction is clearest?