Alternatives to rude things you might say

• “How’s it going?” > “Is it done?”
• “I built on top of it” > “I made changes to it”
• “I noticed something” > “There’s a mistake”
• “Need more time?” > “Today was the deadline”
• “Need some help with it?” > “Gentle reminder”
• “Sharing this will lead to…” > “Don’t share this”
• “Was this intentional?” > “Did you proofread this?”
• “Take care of the situation” > “Clean up the mess”
• “This is not your best work” > “This can be better”
• “Need your help to unblock us” > “Bumping this up”
• “We were waiting for you” > “We started without you”
• “I need it before the board meeting” > “I need it today”
• “This activity is blocked” > “I’ve been waiting for a week”
• “Let me get you caught up” > “You missed the last meeting”
• “Are you adding the examples?” > “Where are the examples?”

You’re probably going to get the same response with either statement. But one of them leaves a better taste.