How to Clarify Your Understanding Without Making a Summary

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Abstract

ach, I described my understanding and added in a few questions for clarification. When I was done, I realized I had a response that was just as long as his — only mine was separated into four paragraphs with bolded headings.Since the pandemic, our team entire has transitioned into remote work settings. We’ve been relying solely on online networks to communicate. While I don’t have to commute to work, I somehow feel like I have even less time than before. Whether it’s the increased workload our team has taken on or the learning curve and inefficient nature of remote work, I feel like I’m being pulled in multiple directions at the same time.One of the interns messaged me yesterday. She was assigned as a leader for one of the projects starting next week. She wanted to make sure she understood what was expected of her. When I opened her message on Slack, I too, was hit with a text wall. My eyes skimmed for urgent problems and when I couldn’t find any, I switched back to the my work inbox.My boss still hasn’t replied to my response, and I still haven’t gotten back to that student. Here’s the problem. No one wants to decipher a 5000-word essay if they don’t have to — especially if there’s no progress or substance and you’re only trying to “clarify your understanding”.So, what’s a better strategy?Instead of writing a summary and asking someone to verify your understanding, respond with an actionable and a timeline. Here’s an example. If you’re confused about the schedule. Don’t type out a list of events and ask them to check it over. Let your teammate know that you’ll sen

Options

d meeting invites for Monday, Wednesday, Friday meetings at noon by tonight.By doing this, you shoot two birds with one stone. If they don’t respond, it’s safe to assume that you’ve understood the schedule and are good to go ahead with creating invites.If you’re confused about what you’re supposed to do, you might be tempted to clarify. But it could be worth it to just get started. You might not get it perfectly right the first time, but making a change or fixing an error can be much more efficient than polishing your understanding. Most of the time, getting started on a task answers most of the questions we have.If you really have to ask a question, use the 3–2–1 rule. You might feel like you have plenty of questions and lots of things to verify before you can get started. But try limiting yourself. Pretend like you can only get one of those questions answered, because often — that’s all we can really get.Once you’ve picked one, you should keep your message down to 3 sentences, give no more than 2 options, and your boss or colleague should be able to respond in one word.Remember, everyone is busy. And there are more effective ways to clarify your understanding than to write your colleague a summary. At the end of the day, you are responsible for getting your work done. You should try to use your judgement and intuition where you can. If you need to ask your boss or colleague, be proactive with your approach. Use action oriented language. And if you must ask a question, keep it short. That’s how you’ll increase your chance of getting a response.</article></body>

No one wants to decipher a text wall just because you want to ‘double check’

My boss emailed me the other day. I opened it and found a text wall. He had a habit of mashing seemingly independent ideas into one message. When inspiration strikes, his instinct is to vomit everything onto a draft. And it always feels like he sends that to me immediately — as if the ideas will expire and the words will dissolve if he waits even a second too long.

It’s always a conglomerate of thoughts. He doesn’t bother to make distinctions between them. He goes on countless tangents and the result is a text wall riddled with run-on sentences and incomplete ideas.

Don’t get me wrong. I love flights of inspiration. Those can be exciting and often, they turn into wildly successful projects. But the neat-freak in me also likes to tidy up after a fruitful brainstorming session. I like putting my art and ideas into organized little boxes.

So, I jumped in with a find tooth comb and started sorting those his text to pen my response. I started with four headings, one for each idea. Below each, I described my understanding and added in a few questions for clarification. When I was done, I realized I had a response that was just as long as his — only mine was separated into four paragraphs with bolded headings.

Since the pandemic, our team entire has transitioned into remote work settings. We’ve been relying solely on online networks to communicate. While I don’t have to commute to work, I somehow feel like I have even less time than before. Whether it’s the increased workload our team has taken on or the learning curve and inefficient nature of remote work, I feel like I’m being pulled in multiple directions at the same time.

One of the interns messaged me yesterday. She was assigned as a leader for one of the projects starting next week. She wanted to make sure she understood what was expected of her. When I opened her message on Slack, I too, was hit with a text wall. My eyes skimmed for urgent problems and when I couldn’t find any, I switched back to the my work inbox.

My boss still hasn’t replied to my response, and I still haven’t gotten back to that student. Here’s the problem. No one wants to decipher a 5000-word essay if they don’t have to — especially if there’s no progress or substance and you’re only trying to “clarify your understanding”.

So, what’s a better strategy?

Instead of writing a summary and asking someone to verify your understanding, respond with an actionable and a timeline. Here’s an example. If you’re confused about the schedule. Don’t type out a list of events and ask them to check it over. Let your teammate know that you’ll send meeting invites for Monday, Wednesday, Friday meetings at noon by tonight.

By doing this, you shoot two birds with one stone. If they don’t respond, it’s safe to assume that you’ve understood the schedule and are good to go ahead with creating invites.

If you’re confused about what you’re supposed to do, you might be tempted to clarify. But it could be worth it to just get started. You might not get it perfectly right the first time, but making a change or fixing an error can be much more efficient than polishing your understanding. Most of the time, getting started on a task answers most of the questions we have.

If you really have to ask a question, use the 3–2–1 rule. You might feel like you have plenty of questions and lots of things to verify before you can get started. But try limiting yourself. Pretend like you can only get one of those questions answered, because often — that’s all we can really get.

Once you’ve picked one, you should keep your message down to 3 sentences, give no more than 2 options, and your boss or colleague should be able to respond in one word.

Remember, everyone is busy. And there are more effective ways to clarify your understanding than to write your colleague a summary. At the end of the day, you are responsible for getting your work done. You should try to use your judgement and intuition where you can. If you need to ask your boss or colleague, be proactive with your approach. Use action oriented language. And if you must ask a question, keep it short. That’s how you’ll increase your chance of getting a response.