June 3. Indirect Communicators

Wouldn't it be great if?

I think that we should do this. What do you think? Just let me know.

If it's ok with you, I'd like to...

Would you like to get those to me by....

I have a boss now that rubs some of my coworkers the wrong way. They say she's harsh and kind of mean and doesn't support them. But I love her. Because she says things like "I need to turn in the numbers by Friday so you will need to get them to me by Wednesday afternoon" and "I see that you didn't follow the correct [insert federal guideline]. This is the correct way to do it. Let me know when you have completed the correction, I expect it by Tuesday."

I know exactly what she wants, I do it, we get along fine.

My last boss said stuff like "How about if you could, get me those numbers maybe by next week if that would be ok?" And then would brutally punish us for not understanding the urgency.

Just be direct.