Can you repeat that?

Uwaga a warunki odbioru

Tomasz asks Zofia to repeat several parts of an instruction in a noisy place. Zofia reads this as inattention even though the listening conditions are the problem.

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Tomasz, take the client data, compare it with Q2 and send me the adjusted version.

Can you repeat the last part?

I literally just said it.

I think she meant a Q2 adjustment.

Weren’t you listening?

I was listening. I didn’t hear everything.

Client data, Q2 comparison, seasonal adjustment. Right?

Right.

Zofia sees another request to repeat herself and can easily attribute it to inattention, while Tomasz experiences noise, speed and several pieces of information at once. As a result, behaviour that looks like a personal trait may simply be an effect of the channel. For important instructions, choose a quiet channel, break the message into parts and ask the recipient to confirm the agreement briefly.