How to act when your MD is blatantly wrong?

Question

I had a situation today in which I didnt know how to properly handle.

MD gave some verbal comments over the phone to apply to a deck which I diligently wrote down. I submitted the work. Then got a book sized email saying how he is confused with why I would give him the deck like that when it is exactly what he wanted. He also said he never said anything like what I did.

What is the best way to reply? Eat it up and move on? I dont have anything but my notes to prove what he said. I even ended the call with a summary of the to do list.

Any thoughts?

labanker · Accepted Answer

MDs generally want to think in big picture, "key takeaways" terms and have the lower level subordinates work out the necessary details to support their big picture takeaways.  The upshot here is that in many cases you need to read between the lines, correct incorrect assumptions, and fill in gaps when you're translating their big picture ideas into concrete presentation materials.  Some MDs will tell you exactly what to write and some comments should be taken literally, but I'd say that's the exception rather than the rule and you'll need to use your judgement.  The mo

FinnesseGod · Answer

This happened in a different setting in my office. Whenever my immediate superior gives specific instructions, I shoot an email either after the discussion or in the email with the deliverable summarizing the discussion.

"Hey X,

As per our discussion the other day, I made the following changes...

Please see the deliverable attached.

Thanks, 
Y"

In this instance, if he's just blatantly denying it, my advice is to grit your teeth on this one and then make the habit of emailing summaries of discussions for future instances.

Frieds · Answer

In this case eat it. Going foward, I would always follow up with an email stating "These are the changes we discussed. Please let me know if I missed anything from our discussion or there are any other changes that need to be made."

If I have any questions, I'll just include any clarification points. I do this just to make sure that I have a paper trail and a formal checklist of things to do. It's more process than anything. Plus, this way, I can keep track of how different people like things done. Things one person likes, another may not.

ironnchef · Answer

agree no value in fighting over this now...best response would be "i must have misunderstood...will make an effort to get more clarity next time if i'm confused or unclear" and then just move on.

For future reference, i would suggest emailing immediately after the phone call or meeting a summary of what was asked by your superior....just for confirmation / record keeping because verbal requests can often be confused...and so in the future you can refer back to it.

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How to act when your MD is blatantly wrong?

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How to act when your MD is blatantly wrong?

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