“Do you need anything else from me?” I used to ask my boss this question, at the end of the day. Sometimes, I would ask this while standing in their doorway, wearing my coat and holding my bag.
Yikes. Do you think I was really looking for an answer?
Nah, I was looking for permission to go home.*
What kind of professional would I be if I waited until the very end of the day to figure out what I was supposed to be working on?
Let’s forget about this question, because we should know what our leaders need. MaxDis readers know what to do: take on new initiatives, attach drafts and make tasks 100% complete.
Remember when we asked you to charge into work like a winner? Leave work the same way. Try any combination of these appropriate end of day statements:
- Here’s what we shipped today.
- Here’s what we’re going to ship tomorrow.
- Here’s what we thought we could ship today but didn’t. Here are the next steps to get the project on track.
- I know what you’re still here working on and I know you don’t need my help with it.
- You stepped out for a meeting a little while ago – did anything come up I should know about?
- I’m out, goodnight!
Good bosses will tell you what you need, whether or not you ask. If you have to ask, do it throughout the day, not when you’ve got one foot out the door.
*Going home is absolutely right and important. I am relentlessly awful at getting home on time, and should be better. I don’t need permission to keep a promise and be on time for my wife and family.
(Photo by Senior Airman Ashley Perdue, DVIDS)
