AIBU to ask what you’d interpret by the phrase “Close of Play”

[CyanSnake]

Hello all.

WIBU to ask you to help settle a light hearted debate I had with a colleague over lunch today?

I’d sent an email out asking for a task to be completed “by close of play Friday”. Now what I meant by this, was that I’m going to work on the project over the weekend; so I need other staff to do their part before 5pm on Friday.

If I knew I wasn’t going to look at it until Monday I’d have said “The deadline is first thing Monday” or “Can I have it by 9am Monday.”

Now my colleague said that she would interpret the phrase “by close of play Friday” to mean “I want to work on it first thing Monday” and that if I directly set a deadline of Monday morning it sounds like I’m directing staff to work over the weekend.

I asked what she would do if she needed something to work on over the weekend and she said she’d ask for it by Friday lunch and chase over the afternoon if it wasn’t done.

So how would you take the phrase?

YANBU - “Close of play Friday” means “By end of business hours on Friday”

YABU - “Close of play Friday” means “On my desk before I start work on Monday”

End of business day Friday

It's obviously the end of Friday. Your colleague is taking the piss.

I wouldn’t understand what you meant

It clearly means submit by end of the day in question

End of business on Friday.

But now you’ve explained ‘close of play’, I would think you meant end of the day Friday.

End of Friday however I would also presume that you would work on it on Monday so if I couldn't get it done for any reason then I'd presume I could work on it over the weekend but then I know my boss wouldn't touch it till Monday!

End of Friday working day. 5pm.

Friday end of the day

“Before you go home on Friday” but not necessarily by 5pm!

why dont you just say you want it by 5pm on friday then theres no room for alledged confusion

Jeeeeez 🙄 COP / COB obviously means 5pm.

End of "normal hours" on Friday.
I'd assume the person asking was going to do some work on it in the evening or over the weekend.

Friday 5pm

I would assume you would mean end of day Friday. However, I would add that you planned to work on it over the weekend so that no-one could claim to have misunderstood and to help you out.

End of day Friday. Definitely.

YANBU - “Close of play Friday” means “By end of business hours on Friday”

5pm Friday, just as you said. No ambiguity whatsoever.
YANBU.

End of working hours Friday

Some people do not manage their time or priorities well. Some with wfh are working at hours other than 9-5. If you say close of play on a Friday you will get some people reply later than 5pm.

Or if it is most members of the cabinet, in about mid-April not tomorrow evening.

I love ‘close of play’, because we all know it generally means ‘5pm-ish’ but there’s enough vagueness there that you can’t really grumble if the thing gets sent at 7pm when someone finishes up got the day.

This is why I give people a midday deadline so you have the afternoon to chase the ones that always blatantly ignore the deadline.

5 p.m. Friday, obviously.

Your colleague sounds like a shirker.

End of working day Friday, but I might have added 'so I can work on it over the weekend '

Definitely end of office hours on Friday.

Your colleague's brain is doing some very strange and unnecessary mental gymnastics to come up with that one.