ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the complexities of the ways people get things done at work along with relative examples. Giving directives and making requests are the most obvious means by which one person can get another to do as they wish; but these examples illustrates, there are many different ways of giving directives. The power and politeness are certainly among the more obvious reasons why people adopt different strategies for conveying directive intent. This also illustrates ways in which different kinds of directive reflect participants relative weighting of a range of different factors. However, the examples have only hinted at the wide range of contextual factors that influences the complex ways in which a directive is realised or negotiated. The extent to which people pays explicit attention to the feelings of others, or demonstrate considerations of politeness at work, tends to vary with range of factors, including the power relationships between the person issuing the directive and its addressee.
