What's Missing, and Who Knows It
✓ CompletedYour Task Card from Lesson 1 has open questions. Before you do anything about them, it helps to know who has the answer: maybe you already do, maybe it's in a file you can open, or maybe only the client knows.
In this lesson you'll sort open questions that way, and practice spotting when an instruction and the files don't match.
Here's the Task Card you made for Grace's Lumen Home request.
| Part | Task Card |
|---|---|
| Task | Make a folder with photos of the 12 best-selling products, and a Doc listing each one's product name, photo file name and wholesale price |
| Finished result | One folder with 12 white-background product photos, plus one Doc with a 3-column list for the same 12 products, ready for Grace to send |
| Sources | The white-background product photos; the Price List, column D (wholesale); information on which products are the best sellers |
| Deadline | Sunday night Portland time = about Monday midday in the Philippines (for example, Sunday 9 PM there = Monday 12 PM here). "Night" isn't an exact time |
| Limits | White-background photos only. Wholesale prices only (column D, not retail). Don't send it to the buyer; Grace will |
| Open questions | Which 12 are the best sellers, and where does that information come from? What time on Sunday night? (Smaller: what to name the folder and the Doc?) |
You also have this now. Grace's shared folder:
And a message from Grace in the same chat last Thursday:
For each open question on your card, who has the answer?
Which 12 products are the best sellers?
What time on Sunday night does Grace need it?
What should the folder and the Doc be called?
Three Places an Answer Can Be
You just sorted three questions three different ways:
- The folder name was already in the chat. Re-reading found it.
- The best sellers were in a file you can open. Looking found it.
- The Sunday time was nowhere. Only Grace knows her own plan.
Before you put a question on your list for the client, check the places it could already be, in this order:
- The whole message, including earlier messages in the same chat or thread
- Any files that came with it, attached or linked
- The client's shared folders and any process notes
- Earlier messages from the client about similar work
- A quick search, for general know-how such as what a word means
Some questions will still be left after that. Those are the ones that need the client, and they're worth asking.
Hanapin muna sa mga file at lumang messages bago magtanong. Kapag wala talaga roon, saka mo ilista para sa client.
Sort the Gaps
A new request from Grace. Read it, look at what you can see, then sort each gap.
October stock count
to ana@harborhill.co · Tuesday
Hi Ana! Please send the October stock count to Mark at the warehouse by Wednesday. Use the same template as last month, and include the three new mugs (Moss, Clay and Sky). Thanks!
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Item | Warehouse qty | Notes |
| 2 | Sand Mug | 48 | |
| 3 | Tide Plate | 30 | |
| 4 | Fern Vase | 12 |
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Name | Role | |
| 2 | Mark Lim | Warehouse | mark@harborhill.co |
Which items are "the new mugs"?
Should the count include stock at the new Portland shop, or only the warehouse?
Where's last month's template?
Should damaged items be counted as stock?
What's Mark's email address?
When is "by Wednesday" in your time?
"I Don't Know This Yet" or "Nobody Said"?
Sometimes you don't know something because it's new to you. That's unfamiliar: the answer exists, and you can learn it or look it up.
Sometimes you don't know because the instruction leaves a choice open, and nothing you can see settles it. That's unclear, and it usually ends up on your list for the client.
The same request can be either one, depending on what else you have.
Unfamiliar or Unclear?
Each pair looks alike. Look for the one detail that makes them different.
Grace: "Export last month's orders as a CSV." You've never heard of a CSV.
Grace: "Export the orders for the accountant." She doesn't say which months, and there are two years of orders.
Grace: "Use our brand colours for the flyer." Recent posts use two different greens, and there's no brand guide anywhere in the shared Drive.
Grace: "Use our brand colours for the flyer." There's a Brand Guide Doc in the shared Drive.
Grace: "Request a courier pickup for Friday." The shop and the warehouse are at different addresses, and Grace doesn't say which.
Grace: "Request a courier pickup from the warehouse for Friday." You've never requested one, but the courier's website has a pickup request page.
Find the Mismatch
Sometimes the instruction and the files don't agree, or two instructions say different things. For each one, choose what's actually wrong.
Trade fair contacts
to ana@harborhill.co · Monday
The business cards are scanned in the "Trade Fair Cards" folder in Drive, 23 cards.
What doesn't match?
| A | B | C | D | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Product | Size | Cost | Retail | Wholesale |
| 2 | Moss Mug | 350 ml | $9 | $24 | $14 |
| 3 | Sand Bowl | Medium | $12 | $32 | $19 |
What doesn't match?
Date first: 2026-10-05_product-name
What doesn't match?
Price list
to ana@harborhill.co · Friday
Here's the price list
What doesn't match?
Sort Your Open Questions
Back to the Lumen Home request. You've now opened the files, and found two things:
| A | B | C | D | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Product | Size | Cost | Retail | Wholesale |
| 2 | Moss Mug | 350 ml | $9 | $24 | $14 |
| 3 | Sand Bowl | Medium | $12 | $32 | $19 |
- The white-background folder has photos for 10 of the 12 best sellers. The other two only have lifestyle photos.
- In the Price List, column D is Retail and column E is Wholesale.
Sort everything you still need to know into four lists. Short notes are fine, in English or Taglish. Your answers are saved in this browser.
In Lesson 3 you'll decide what to do about each question and mismatch. If something does need to go to Grace, the wording comes from Communication & Professionalism, Lesson 3.
- Before you list a question for the client, check whether you already have the answer or can find it.
- Unfamiliar means you can learn it. Unclear means the instruction leaves a choice open.
- When the instruction and the files don't match, write down both sources.
TASK CARD Task: Finished result: Sources: Deadline (my time / client's words): Limits: Open questions: SORTED QUESTIONS I already have it: I can find it myself (where): Only the client can answer: Mismatches I found (both sources):