Give Clear, Understandable Instructions to Staff

Giving clear understandable instructions are one of those things that sound easy to do but in real-life it can be more complex, especially in an office environment or within a business. Mixed messages, assumptions, and multiple options mean that the message received might differ from what we meant.

Lecturer Broadcast: Click here to view an explanation about giving clear, understandable instructions.

1. Don’t Assume they Know what you Mean

You know what they say, that “assumption is the mother of all mistakes!” Don’t be the fool that assumes people know what you mean. Whist most people in your office or business will be intuitive and switched on, they are not mind readers. An imperative when giving clear instructions is to not assume the recipient knows what you mean, and this can be for anything from industry acronyms to whom to contact in different departments or organisations. It will only take you a few seconds more to explain the details.

2. Be Clear and Specific

Everyone loves a waffle (dripping with maple syrup, please!) but, no one likes waffle in conversation and especially not in an email or when it is a set of instructions. Whilst you don’t want to ramble on in your instructions (that would be a waste of your time and to be honest, they’d switch off after a while) you do want to ensure that your instructions are clear, specific and concise. Do not butter it up, get straight to the point on what needs to be actioned or delivered, rather than making the instructions too flowery, which will only confuse.

For example, don’t just instruct “send a selection of the briefings to a few key stakeholders", instead, state how many stakeholders, to whom, and what briefings! It helps to bullet points as it reduces the temptation to waffle on and it helps your instructions and actions to be more focused.

3. Give Time Frames

Do not confuse matters by not being specific with your timeframes and deadlines. What you consider as “soon” might be very different from your colleagues’ perceptions. If you think “soon” is the next couple of hours, yet your staff who you have instructed considered it to be in a few days then this communication is going to have serious implications in any business or project!

4. Give Examples

Whenever possible, make sure you give examples. This will be especially beneficial if they are new to the role, or if they haven’t carried out the task before. This will help to add clarity to your instructions and help form a clearer picture of what it is you mean and want.

For example, if you are asking them to design a customer-satisfaction survey for your new product then you might want to send them examples of other surveys previously used to give them an idea.

5. Give Alternatives

When giving your instructions, it is worth considering giving some alternatives just in case your preferred option of instruction is not viable or available.

For example, it could be “I want you to set up a meeting on the 20th of this month for 2 hours with the finance director. If they are not available on the 20th, then the afternoon of the 26th will be fine, or we can meet with the commercial analyst instead.”

By giving alternatives you are empowering your staff to get the job done with minimal fuss and constant monitoring by yourself. The beauty of tasking someone else to do something is that you don’t have to do it, which will save you time. By setting alternatives they don’t have to keep coming back to you; after all, it won’t save you time if you must keep responding to queries.

6. Set Boundaries

Once a task is set, the instructions should be clear enough that further confirmation and clarification are not needed (however, saying this, it is obviously best to seek clarification if unsure!) If this rings true with you then you need to make sure that your instructions are clear so that they are certain what they are doing and don’t feel the need to keep coming back with questions. Setting boundaries are very important, especially if you cannot think of alternatives at the time then boundaries might work.

For example, you might instruct “Go to the supplier and order 100 units. If the normal supplier is out of stock, then it is fine to use a new supplier so long as they are no more than 10% more expensive and can deliver within 3 working days.” Here, you haven’t been specific with your alternatives but clear enough on boundaries for them to make the call.

7. Get Clarification

Before you let your staff loose based on your instruction, it wouldn’t hurt to seek feedback from them to ensure that they understand what the task at hand is and what is expected. You could simply ask if there are any questions but the one issue with that is that it is all too easy to just simply say “no”. Either they might think they understand, or they might even be too shy to ask! Perhaps ask them to recap on what is required, or what the priorities/objectives are so that you can ensure what you’ve said is what’s been heard!

Examples of Clear Instructions

Timer Instructions: Thank you for being a timekeeper today. Your position is one of great importance to the swimmers.

Before a race: See if the next swimmer is present and in the correct lane, heat and event. If not, call the swimmer’s name. Make sure stopwatch is reset. Start the watch the instant you see the light on the starter. Be able to see the light.

During the race: If your watch fails, wave the watch in the air and call for the chief/head timekeeper. Get a functioning replacement watch. Towards the end of the race, stand directly over the assigned lane to observe the touch. Stop the watch and push the back-up button when any part of the swimmer's body touches the wall. Record the swimmer’s time on the lane timer sheet. If the swimmer in your lane is among the last to finish, it may be necessary to stop the watch. Remember the time, clear the watch and start it for the next race before writing the time.

After the race: Record the watch time. Prepare to time the next race. Lanes must always have two timekeepers. If, for some reason, you must leave, please notify the chief timekeeper in advance so a replacement timer can take your place before you leave.