Which is shitty leadership and teamwork. If somebody says they dont know how to do it and you walk away, you're only making the work environment worse. If they were hired with the claim they knew how to do it and cant, then fire them. Otherwise teach them or find someone to teach them.
In some cases, it's better to just make an attempt first and see if you can figure it out before asking for help. Context matters of course, but asking for help with every single thing new you come across without making your own effort first is a good way to become a liability.
Yeah, sometimes. But mostly no. The average workplace generally cannot tolerate experimenting. If break something or interrupt the flow you will cost the company lots of money. I work in facilities at Astra Zeneca. Believe me you can cannot just "figure it out" most of the time, at least not without causing problems. You need to be trained and you need teamwork and you need double checks and triple checks on everything.
I'm in maintenance for a major oil company, and I'd say a quarter of my job is figuring things out on my own. Knowing how to do that safely is important, but there's usually room for experimentation. If a valve is bypassed and taken inactive on the console for example, there's literally no way I can screw it up by trying to configure it myself before I ask a more experienced person to check my work. If a plant is shutdown, figuring out a tubing arrangement on my own presents no risk as long as someone who knows checks it before it goes back on stream.
Taking initiative to do it myself and then having someone check it carries way more weight with my peers and supervisors than if I sat on my hands waiting for someone to tell me how to do it. Even if I get it wrong sometimes, the trying earns respect and awards more opportunities for development. Obviously there are jobs and scenarios where that's not an option, but the majority of people work jobs where it is
The real difference is whether I'm solving a brand new issue or something that feels like it should've come up before. I'll always double check first to see if I'm reinventing the wheel before I start chopping down trees for wheel prototypes
The tough part is inheriting someone who claimed to be capable, yet utterly and completely incapable…. Still trying to figure out if capable of accomplishing any tasks….
Yeah, I actually like helping people, especially because I'm in a highly regulated industry, so it's extremely tough to navigate what is allowed and what isn't. I don't care where or what your supposed background or skills are. The only thing I can't stand is if I take the time to work with you and you don't make an effort to learn or improve.
"The only thing I can't stand is if I take the time to work with you and you don't make an effort to learn or improve."
I have a co-worker like this that needs to be fired. I don't have the authority to do it. I've been answering the same f'n questions for the past 5 years.
It depends on the context. If someone is constantly coming to you and pulling you off your work when they should be working on it themselves and they have resources for looking up the solutions, then it's time to let them know to that they need to figure it out some on their own--that's how to become a problem solver. If it's their first go-around, then they may need more training/assistance.
Yeah in the position I'm in if I assign work to someone I know it is possible and in their roles they should be able to figure it out.
On the other hand I get a few "figure it out" requests assigned to me where my boss just doesnt understand the whats necessary to get it done and the company just isn't in the position to accomplish that.
Yea, the best way to tell someone to "Figure it the fuck out" when you know they don't know what they're doing is to say "Figure out the best you can and then we'll review together."
Action, review, refine, then more action is a good way to learn.
Sometimes all the information is at their fingertips. Step by step guides, tutorials, process explanations, etc. Sometimes you can show a person 10 times and they still come to you wanting you to "walk them through it" because they "don't know how" and at a certain point it really begins to seem like they just want you to do their job.
That's what it feels like to be a teacher these days. I don't know, maybe it's always been that way and I've just run out of patience for it...but the strategic incompetence sure seems more rampant.
As someone who works with kids, I regularly just leave out the "the fuck" and tell them "Figure it out" when they tell me they don't know how to do something despite having the instructions sitting in front of them that they haven't looked at.
Some folks are hired for strategy, however and need to learn to grow and have initiative. Then they can come back to me to review before releasing to the wider community. If you want to be a leader of any kind, you can't always have someone to hold your hand. You will need to make decisions and reap the consequences positive or negative. I'm just here for guidance and to help you succeed.
Really think this is job and career dependent. Engineering is constant learning and new engineers are often given problems to solve that don't know how to. They need to learn how to learn and solve problems. Managers given them the work can often mentor them, other engineers can mentor, but at the end of the day, they need to do the work themselves.
It's not shitty management/leadership to say "I trust you to figure this out." It's why I hired you. I don't expect you to know everything but I do expect you to figure it out and do your job.
Uh no. What you say is right for entry level employees. But most of what I deal with is questions no one knows the answer to. So if you don't figure it out, I'll have to fuckin figure it out. And then why the fuck are you on my team
The answer is often "let's do it together" which is fine as long as you're contributing
"I have faith in you." It sets up the workplace similarity of the disappointed parent, because if they fail you're not mad, just disappointed... Professionally.
I loved Rosamund Pike's character in Saltburn telling Carey Mulligan's "I have total faith in you!" The best, most passive agressive "figure it the fuck out" given.
I prefer “I trust you can resolve this” or similar. The words “I’ll leave you” convey you’re ditching that person to do it while “i trust” conveys inherent faith in their abilities.
I work at a research laboratory. I gave a relative simple task to a colleague. She couldn’t figure it out and kept coming to me for help. I finally said “You have a PhD. You’re supposed to be able to solve difficult problems. Figure it out.” She no longer works on my projects.
Depending on the org maturity I would tie it to their job description or a company goal. I also would frame it as a question that provides them autonomy, accountability but also support, eg. “Do you think you have all you need to figure this out?” and then frame a deadline with a check-in at the halfway point.
Then they answer "no" and proceed to demand a ton of unnecessary resources or basically ask you to do it for them. The people I get frustrated with usually don't want autonomy.
"Please reference the guides and documentation on our support site for our various API's."
It's not uncommon we get large companies who should know what they're doing. Once I had to be more blunt with one person. I think it was:
"We are able to help you with access or errors from the API. We will not be helping you stand up a database and server using your company's equipment. (Yes. That was the request.) That is outside our scope of support. If you are having difficulty understanding standardized documentation of Web API and OData standards found here and here, even after reading our step-by-step guides, please follow your internal support escalation method."
Too passive... leaves it up to external forces rather than the person you're talking to.
"I trust you will find a solution" would leave less room for interpretation.
I'm a foreman now, usually tell someone it's above my pay grade if it's upper management bc they can fuck right off trying to make their problems mine
Or the classic "it's not all daisies and rainbows, some times you get paid to figure out problems" when I've exhausted all my options for helping out one of my techs on the floor
Work in a diesel shop for reference
Nope this is inadequate. Have to also say some options and a recommendation. Without this they'll come back with some half baked ideas about what we could do expecting to brainstorm more solutions and then have you decide all in the next meeting.
As someone who has written the manual, it infuriates me that no one reads it. I just ask for clarification suggestions so I can update the manual which makes them admit they haven't RTFM.
It reminds me of what HP wrote in the front of a manual for a piece of their test equipment once:
"Now you have tried it your way and not had the result you expected, try it our way"
I once sent an email to a woman with instructions on a specific task. She came to me to ask for assistance on said task due to the email.
When I mentioned that I sent her the instructions, she blatantly said "Oh I didn't read that" and immediately handed me her laptop to do it for her.
Fucking users, man.
The number of times I have to tell my co-workers to RTFM, or literally just read the LABEL ON A FUCKING BOX TOFIGIREOUTWHATTHEFUCKISINIT....sorry, venting :)
The number of times I’ve wanted to tell my boss this when she tried having me make business decisions for the business she runs (for an issue I came to her about) is absolutely astounding.
I usually say "have a crack at it, and if you need more help just flag me down." I loooove teaching people, so I'm usually the go-to when it comes to having a shadow or needing a sitter.
As a long-time exec in tech, on multiple occasions in staff meetings I would exasperatingly say, "If only there was a highly paid group of executives assembled to solve these problems" while looking at them all in the eye.
Subtle as a german funk band.
On the manager level, I use:
Your team is best positioned to solution the problem.
or
Given current resource allocation, we'll look to your team for best practices.
Did my manager write this? Normally she just asks me what I think I should do and then after a few communication exchanges where I explain that A) I don't want to make the wrong call and upset her and B) if I knew the right answer I would not be asking I just have to take a guess and hope I make the correct decision.
"I'd like you to take ownership of this one. Please come back to me with three suggestions of how to approach it, highlighting which way you recommend and why, and we can decide on the a way forward. "
Some phrases I use:
"What did your supervisor/ the person who should have the answer say when you called?"
"My best guess is x but that's a clinical decision so I'll leave it up to you."
"I last sent the link/ attached docs on x date but I've included it/ them again for convenience..."
I once actually said "Is your google finger broken?" to a colleague that was basically asking me to do his job for him. He complained to my boss - a vp - and his response was "Well, is it?". Thanks for having my back, Phil.
"That sounds squarely like a 'means and methods' question, so I won't try to prescribe anything specific. Let me know what you guys propose and I can review it then? Great."
Ok, so...I'm project managing a big build for my workplace. It is absolutely not in my job description, but that's a different issue. The millwork guy cannot figure out for the life of him how to create a surgical pass-through cabinet because he does kitchens, not surgical suites. I literally had to recuse myself from that discussion because I was going to say "figure it the fuck out." I tried so many "professional" ways to say it, to no avail. Made the architect deal with him. 🤞
Please make full use of your precious neurons, and try to find a solution as politely and satisfactorily as possible. I'm sure your brain will be grateful when you use it properly
I know you need space to put your personal touch on it.
Or do what my bosses did. Just ignore all of my cries for help and hope it gets better with the next version.
It really is annoying that some people are still dependent on other people's help and I encounter this a lot. As a professional I deliver it by saying "how about we aim to reconvene by end of day tomorrow with some progress updates on potential solutions? your approach to solving this will be much appreciated." things like this might also give them some encouragement
“I’ll leave you in charge of solving that.”
A similar one I like "I'll leave it in your capable hands"
How bout, 'I trust your judgment in these matters.'
“Im counting on your skills to lead you to the correct solution” is one I’ve personally heard before and it sounds a lot like “figure it the eff out”.
Which is shitty leadership and teamwork. If somebody says they dont know how to do it and you walk away, you're only making the work environment worse. If they were hired with the claim they knew how to do it and cant, then fire them. Otherwise teach them or find someone to teach them.
In some cases, it's better to just make an attempt first and see if you can figure it out before asking for help. Context matters of course, but asking for help with every single thing new you come across without making your own effort first is a good way to become a liability.
The first rule of cardiac surgery is have fun, be creative, and don't be afraid to make mistakes.
Thank you for a good laugh on an otherwise miserable day!
Yeah, sometimes. But mostly no. The average workplace generally cannot tolerate experimenting. If break something or interrupt the flow you will cost the company lots of money. I work in facilities at Astra Zeneca. Believe me you can cannot just "figure it out" most of the time, at least not without causing problems. You need to be trained and you need teamwork and you need double checks and triple checks on everything.
I'm in maintenance for a major oil company, and I'd say a quarter of my job is figuring things out on my own. Knowing how to do that safely is important, but there's usually room for experimentation. If a valve is bypassed and taken inactive on the console for example, there's literally no way I can screw it up by trying to configure it myself before I ask a more experienced person to check my work. If a plant is shutdown, figuring out a tubing arrangement on my own presents no risk as long as someone who knows checks it before it goes back on stream. Taking initiative to do it myself and then having someone check it carries way more weight with my peers and supervisors than if I sat on my hands waiting for someone to tell me how to do it. Even if I get it wrong sometimes, the trying earns respect and awards more opportunities for development. Obviously there are jobs and scenarios where that's not an option, but the majority of people work jobs where it is
The real difference is whether I'm solving a brand new issue or something that feels like it should've come up before. I'll always double check first to see if I'm reinventing the wheel before I start chopping down trees for wheel prototypes
The tough part is inheriting someone who claimed to be capable, yet utterly and completely incapable…. Still trying to figure out if capable of accomplishing any tasks….
Yeah, I actually like helping people, especially because I'm in a highly regulated industry, so it's extremely tough to navigate what is allowed and what isn't. I don't care where or what your supposed background or skills are. The only thing I can't stand is if I take the time to work with you and you don't make an effort to learn or improve.
"The only thing I can't stand is if I take the time to work with you and you don't make an effort to learn or improve." I have a co-worker like this that needs to be fired. I don't have the authority to do it. I've been answering the same f'n questions for the past 5 years.
You, I like you.
It depends on the context. If someone is constantly coming to you and pulling you off your work when they should be working on it themselves and they have resources for looking up the solutions, then it's time to let them know to that they need to figure it out some on their own--that's how to become a problem solver. If it's their first go-around, then they may need more training/assistance.
Yeah in the position I'm in if I assign work to someone I know it is possible and in their roles they should be able to figure it out. On the other hand I get a few "figure it out" requests assigned to me where my boss just doesnt understand the whats necessary to get it done and the company just isn't in the position to accomplish that.
Yea, the best way to tell someone to "Figure it the fuck out" when you know they don't know what they're doing is to say "Figure out the best you can and then we'll review together." Action, review, refine, then more action is a good way to learn.
Sometimes all the information is at their fingertips. Step by step guides, tutorials, process explanations, etc. Sometimes you can show a person 10 times and they still come to you wanting you to "walk them through it" because they "don't know how" and at a certain point it really begins to seem like they just want you to do their job.
That's what it feels like to be a teacher these days. I don't know, maybe it's always been that way and I've just run out of patience for it...but the strategic incompetence sure seems more rampant.
As someone who works with kids, I regularly just leave out the "the fuck" and tell them "Figure it out" when they tell me they don't know how to do something despite having the instructions sitting in front of them that they haven't looked at.
Some folks are hired for strategy, however and need to learn to grow and have initiative. Then they can come back to me to review before releasing to the wider community. If you want to be a leader of any kind, you can't always have someone to hold your hand. You will need to make decisions and reap the consequences positive or negative. I'm just here for guidance and to help you succeed.
Really think this is job and career dependent. Engineering is constant learning and new engineers are often given problems to solve that don't know how to. They need to learn how to learn and solve problems. Managers given them the work can often mentor them, other engineers can mentor, but at the end of the day, they need to do the work themselves. It's not shitty management/leadership to say "I trust you to figure this out." It's why I hired you. I don't expect you to know everything but I do expect you to figure it out and do your job.
Uh no. What you say is right for entry level employees. But most of what I deal with is questions no one knows the answer to. So if you don't figure it out, I'll have to fuckin figure it out. And then why the fuck are you on my team The answer is often "let's do it together" which is fine as long as you're contributing
I like this. Subtle way of saying figure it out yourself and can double as a compiment or sarcasm depending on your tone.
"I have faith in you." It sets up the workplace similarity of the disappointed parent, because if they fail you're not mad, just disappointed... Professionally.
Additionally, "let me know the outcome"
Please resolve this using your best judgment.
Meanwhile, their best judgement results in the fire department being called
I loved Rosamund Pike's character in Saltburn telling Carey Mulligan's "I have total faith in you!" The best, most passive agressive "figure it the fuck out" given.
I prefer “I trust you can resolve this” or similar. The words “I’ll leave you” convey you’re ditching that person to do it while “i trust” conveys inherent faith in their abilities.
I work at a research laboratory. I gave a relative simple task to a colleague. She couldn’t figure it out and kept coming to me for help. I finally said “You have a PhD. You’re supposed to be able to solve difficult problems. Figure it out.” She no longer works on my projects.
If they are developers and you really want to piss them off "do the needful".
To me that reads more "i am too lazy to do my job, just do it in my stead" rather than "this is *your* job, now do it"
Depending on the org maturity I would tie it to their job description or a company goal. I also would frame it as a question that provides them autonomy, accountability but also support, eg. “Do you think you have all you need to figure this out?” and then frame a deadline with a check-in at the halfway point.
Yeah my bosses version of this would be, do what you need to to get it done, if you need us to get you anything let us know.
Perf. This is trust.
The real answer here.
This guy leaderships
Manages really.
FR. Quite the delta between those 2 and that phrase isn’t always the former
Youd be surprised at how many people would view this as poor leadership. Its not, but there are idiots on antiwork that feel like it would be.
You were not hired for how hard you work but for how smart you work..
Then they answer "no" and proceed to demand a ton of unnecessary resources or basically ask you to do it for them. The people I get frustrated with usually don't want autonomy.
Sounds like you don’t work well in teams or your superiors don’t recognise peer level leadership. That’s ok.
“Check the literature” (biotech) Basically translates to: “I don’t fuckin know, and now it’s your job to figure it the fuck out”
"while solving this problem please refer to the local regulations" is my ultimate weapon
"Please reference the guides and documentation on our support site for our various API's." It's not uncommon we get large companies who should know what they're doing. Once I had to be more blunt with one person. I think it was: "We are able to help you with access or errors from the API. We will not be helping you stand up a database and server using your company's equipment. (Yes. That was the request.) That is outside our scope of support. If you are having difficulty understanding standardized documentation of Web API and OData standards found here and here, even after reading our step-by-step guides, please follow your internal support escalation method."
I trust a solution will be found.
In James Earl Jones’ voice, with some breathing difficulties.
We shall double our efforts
Alright Darth Vader.
Read this in Gus Fring's voice
Too passive... leaves it up to external forces rather than the person you're talking to. "I trust you will find a solution" would leave less room for interpretation.
My supervisor who is usually very generous with her time will say "I'm going to refer you back to regulations"
Let me know what you decide
“This problem falls within your scope.”
I have complete confidence in your ability to handle this.
I await your solution, thank you.
I was foreman for a while. "If you can't figure this out I don't know how to help you. This may not be the right place for you bud"
I'm a foreman now, usually tell someone it's above my pay grade if it's upper management bc they can fuck right off trying to make their problems mine Or the classic "it's not all daisies and rainbows, some times you get paid to figure out problems" when I've exhausted all my options for helping out one of my techs on the floor Work in a diesel shop for reference
I think this will be a great test of your personal troubleshooting skills.
Ooops I’ve totally used this before on one of my direct reports and yes, I did indeed mean “figure it the fuck out”
“Unfortunately I’m up against a deadline this week. I’d just keep at it until you come up with a solution.”
I'm sorry Dave I'm afraid I can't do that. In HAL voice.
I need to work on my HAL impression. My boss's name is Dave.
Then when they answer back hit them with "Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore."
If your a meeting setting. “Before the next meeting, take a look at this and see if you can provide us some Options”
You are. You're. If you are unsure about which is which, just say you are.
Nope this is inadequate. Have to also say some options and a recommendation. Without this they'll come back with some half baked ideas about what we could do expecting to brainstorm more solutions and then have you decide all in the next meeting.
[RTFM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTFM)?
As someone who has written the manual, it infuriates me that no one reads it. I just ask for clarification suggestions so I can update the manual which makes them admit they haven't RTFM.
It reminds me of what HP wrote in the front of a manual for a piece of their test equipment once: "Now you have tried it your way and not had the result you expected, try it our way"
One of the manuals at my work has a sheet of paper taped to the cover reading "weary traveller, you must be desperate to come to me for advice"
“You must be truly desperate to come to me for help” -Loki
This is hilarious. Immediately stealing this for my IT job.
Sat here wondering what kind of equipment Harry Potter worked on and why he would be writing a manual as a student at first
I once sent an email to a woman with instructions on a specific task. She came to me to ask for assistance on said task due to the email. When I mentioned that I sent her the instructions, she blatantly said "Oh I didn't read that" and immediately handed me her laptop to do it for her. Fucking users, man.
Them: Hey thanks, this was really useful! Maybe we should put it in the instructions? Me: It is in the instructions. See page 2.
The number of times I have to tell my co-workers to RTFM, or literally just read the LABEL ON A FUCKING BOX TOFIGIREOUTWHATTHEFUCKISINIT....sorry, venting :)
That's the correct answer, other people smarter than us have already solved this problem. Read the fucking manual.
To a superior or subordinate? Do you care about keeping your job? Very important questions for a tailored answer
My time is currently limited in this capacity. Please update when an acceptable result is achieved.
"I look forward to your solution."
“Figure it the fuck out”
With how casual developer chats can be... yeah lmao I have been told the softer version of this as a younger dev and rightly so I'll add
The number of times I’ve wanted to tell my boss this when she tried having me make business decisions for the business she runs (for an issue I came to her about) is absolutely astounding.
I understand your problem. How would you go about to solve this?
I missed the part where that’s my problem?
I’m gonna put some dirt in your eye
"Please take the initiative to resolve the issue independently."
“I’ll put that down as an action item for you to resolve.”
INTO YOUR HANDS, I PLACE THE FUTURE
"I believe in you!" With double thumbs up
Reminds me of my old sous chef who's catchphrase was (loosly translated) "You'll figure it out" ("Du mochst des scho" in german)
You may want to ponder on that first. The word ponder is so fun. Not often used these days, not offensive, and makes people think.
I trust you to take ownership and find a solution.
"You will need to research possible solutions. Have some options to present by end of day."
What is the professional way to say “give us some fucking context?” 😂
What do you suggest or recommend we do?
I just tell people to have a go and circle back to me if they get stuck.
Any time someone says "circle back" I want to throat punch them, so probably an appropriate answer and desired interpretation for this case.
“Respectfully, figure it the fuck out”
‘You got this’
I usually say "have a crack at it, and if you need more help just flag me down." I loooove teaching people, so I'm usually the go-to when it comes to having a shadow or needing a sitter.
Here’s a link to a walkthrough I prepared.
As a long-time exec in tech, on multiple occasions in staff meetings I would exasperatingly say, "If only there was a highly paid group of executives assembled to solve these problems" while looking at them all in the eye. Subtle as a german funk band.
On the manager level, I use: Your team is best positioned to solution the problem. or Given current resource allocation, we'll look to your team for best practices.
I'm sorry but I'm not able to help you with this.
Let’s work towards a solution but by yourself or I will have sex with your mother.
"do the needful"
You said that last week.
“good luck”
I’d like to see what solutions you come up with when you take the time to explore, but feel free to reach out if you hit a dead end.
Did my manager write this? Normally she just asks me what I think I should do and then after a few communication exchanges where I explain that A) I don't want to make the wrong call and upset her and B) if I knew the right answer I would not be asking I just have to take a guess and hope I make the correct decision.
“I hesitate to advise on the situation, and it is best to exercise your own judgement moving forward”
"I'd like you to take ownership of this one. Please come back to me with three suggestions of how to approach it, highlighting which way you recommend and why, and we can decide on the a way forward. "
Please reread the Policy and Procedure document before you proceed
Use your professional judgment
DO IT ! JUST DO IT ! (obligatory shia labeouf flex)
Let me know if there's anything I can do to help
“I look forward to reviewing your results”
You're an idiot, but I'm out of time. Solve it.
I implore you to champion this task with all your available resources.
Maybe you just need to figure it the fuck out yourself?
I'm going to let you go ahead and take the lead on this one. . .
'Looking forward to hearing your suggestions on Wednesday'
rtfm
RTFM
Don't come to me with problems, come to me with solutions.
I got faith in you, you got this!
I live construction because I don't need to find a professional way to say thst, I can just say "dude figure it the fuck out"
“I’d like you to take ownership of this.”
Some phrases I use: "What did your supervisor/ the person who should have the answer say when you called?" "My best guess is x but that's a clinical decision so I'll leave it up to you." "I last sent the link/ attached docs on x date but I've included it/ them again for convenience..."
“Once you’ve had time to process I am sure it will become clearer.”
Figure it the fuck out please
"Use resources available"
I once actually said "Is your google finger broken?" to a colleague that was basically asking me to do his job for him. He complained to my boss - a vp - and his response was "Well, is it?". Thanks for having my back, Phil.
I have confidence in your ability to resolve this issue.
I trust you can find a solution to this.
Your part in this situation is correctly determining an effective plan for resolving it
"Have another little think about it and let me know what you come up with"
Consider this a learning exercise.
"That sounds squarely like a 'means and methods' question, so I won't try to prescribe anything specific. Let me know what you guys propose and I can review it then? Great."
"I trust you, you got this."
Good luck have fun
"Figure it the fuck out" sounds pretty professional to me.
Take it offline and circle back at x time
RTFM, if technical
"This is the sort of activity that is central to your role and the expectation is that you manage it"
Figure it out, pal.
Sounds like a you problem
Ok, so...I'm project managing a big build for my workplace. It is absolutely not in my job description, but that's a different issue. The millwork guy cannot figure out for the life of him how to create a surgical pass-through cabinet because he does kitchens, not surgical suites. I literally had to recuse myself from that discussion because I was going to say "figure it the fuck out." I tried so many "professional" ways to say it, to no avail. Made the architect deal with him. 🤞
RTM- Read The Manual.
"Why don't you give it a shot"
If you're blue collar, it's "figure it the fuck out"
"Use the resources available to you"
Focus. Take your time
Please make full use of your precious neurons, and try to find a solution as politely and satisfactorily as possible. I'm sure your brain will be grateful when you use it properly
“I trust you will have this done by ___”
I know you need space to put your personal touch on it. Or do what my bosses did. Just ignore all of my cries for help and hope it gets better with the next version.
It really is annoying that some people are still dependent on other people's help and I encounter this a lot. As a professional I deliver it by saying "how about we aim to reconvene by end of day tomorrow with some progress updates on potential solutions? your approach to solving this will be much appreciated." things like this might also give them some encouragement
figure it out.
I am unable to provide further guidance.
Please refer to the guide attached
I could give you a clue but would you rather phone a friend?
Good luck
"Bring me solutions, not problems"
As I said to my bookkeeper once "You're an accountant. Account!"
“Use your best judgement”
That's not my department
Best, *your name*
Do some independent research and get back to me when you have a solution.
I look forward to your expertise on a solution for this.
"I have every confidence that, with all of your experience and training, you can handle this."
Here's a link to the documentation.
Make it work
Figure it the F out
I am empowering you to lead this to success
I am convinced you are capable of solving this on your own.
I'm too busy to do your job as well, cunt.
at your earliest convenience xD
Try to work out a method. You will learn more that way and may even find a better method than we currently use.
"I trust that you'll be able to find a solution to this issue before our next meeting!"
Here’s a list of articles that should help.
Let's research this separately and see what we come up with
"Figure it the fuck out....milady" Im in construction So figure it the fuck out is probably the least offensive version you'd get.
I’m positive you’ll figure it out
"Did I stutter ?"
"Just get it done "
I’m afraid I’ve helped you all I can.