After years of remote working, albeit as a technical writer rather than a developer, I've learned a couple of techniques for dealing with vague and ill-defined tasks.
i) Write down exactly what you think the task might entail and email the CEO / manager. If you're off the mark, you'll get corrected. If you're on the right track, you'll get the go-ahead. Either way, you'll have a clear path forward.
ii) YMMV vary with this because of the different job roles, but I'll often just figure out a good solution to the problem, implement it, and see what happens. In my experience, tasks are ill-defined and vague because the manager has only an ill-defined and vague idea of what they need. In solving the problem, you do the thinking and clarification so the manager doesn't have to.
i) Write down exactly what you think the task might entail and email the CEO / manager. If you're off the mark, you'll get corrected. If you're on the right track, you'll get the go-ahead. Either way, you'll have a clear path forward.
ii) YMMV vary with this because of the different job roles, but I'll often just figure out a good solution to the problem, implement it, and see what happens. In my experience, tasks are ill-defined and vague because the manager has only an ill-defined and vague idea of what they need. In solving the problem, you do the thinking and clarification so the manager doesn't have to.