I recently learned that it’s highly important to be very clear and articulate when conveying information in an office setting. Of course, this is something that should be obvious and something that I would’ve told you I already knew if I had been asked but I was reminded through a harsh lesson that we don’t always know what we think we know about things. In this case, I didn’t really know that I wasn’t being clear enough.

Let me explain. I was given the task of purchasing some office supplies for the business where I work. I got swamped with things to do and decided to ask the intern to run and make the purchase instead. I told her that we needed a paper cutter for cutting up our business cards after we print them since we do all of that in house. She said okay and took off to the store.

When she returned, she came back with a business card cutter and a paper perforator. I had meant that I wanted an actual paper cutter which could be used for multiple types of projects. Of course, I hadn’t been clear about that and she didn’t know any better than to buy what seemed right for the job I’d described. We ended up taking those back and getting what I wanted but it was an eye-opener to me about the importance of being clear in expressing what you expect from others in a work setting.

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