You recently joined a company as a junior staff and were asked assigned a task by your supervisor (to conduct a computer simulation on something). But your supervisor did not tell you how to proceed or who else you could talk to. You asked your immediate colleagues but they don't know either. Your educated guess is to use a software called MATLAB but your company doesn't seem to have a license for that. You are completely lost as to where to start. Your goal now is to write an email to your supervisor that sounds as friendly and professional as possible. You don't want to appear incompetent at your job, while also not sounding like you are blaming your supervisor for the lack of instructions. So, here's a suggestion:

In general, it is best to formulate emails to superiors as succinctly as possible, without unnecessarily lengthy explanations. Supervisors often have plenty to do and little time.

The mail starts with a personal address. With the phrase "Sie haben mich vor Kurzem gebeten, eine Computer-Simulation durchzuführen," you remind your supervisor what task he or she has given you. "Sehr gerne kann ich diese Aufgabe für Sie erledigen!" shows your motivation to complete the task.

You explain to your supervisor that you have already started working and created a first plan for the simulation. Then you indicate that you still have questions, and you want to have them addressed to avoid potential misunderstandings. This shows that you are thoughtful about the steps and want to produce results that are useful and of high standards. Also, by smartly wording it, you don't sound accusative about your boss not giving you enough information initially.

The first question indicates that you understand you should seek advice from colleagues with expertise or responsibility instead of constantly bothering your supervisor with numerous technical details. In the second sentence, you explain also why a contact person is helpful: as a young employee, it is better when experienced people double check your work. This again shows your intention of producing high-quality results.

Here you ask the question about the software you should use. With the second sentence you suggest the software MATLAB. You show your boss that you have proactively looked into this subject and not just passively waiting for his/her instructions. You also ask if it is possible to use the software for your company. Hereby you bring in new ideas to the company.

You formulate the end of the mail in a way that sounds less like an order to your supervisor to do something, and also wish him a good day. This friendly demeanour will increase your chances of getting the information you need.

With the following template you can easily reproduce the mail and adapt it to your personal requirements.