Just Say No

Despite all the pushing we do to do more, more, more, sometimes you just have to say “no.”

When the folks above you try to put too much onto your plate, there may be times when you need to push back. It might be your bosses, or shareholders, or even customers, but whoever it is, if it’s really too much, you need to be willing to say so. It’s up to you to protect the quality of the work you and your employees are doing.

We are not talking so much about ethical issues here — when someone asks you to do something illegal or clearly unethical, “no” should be the automatic response — but instead we are talking more about overloading and time management. If you are being asked to do more than you effectively can, everyone loses. The projects you were already doing get less attention, the new tasks might get done but not as well as they should be, and your employees (and you) get awfully stressed out, which can have a negative long-term effect.

You might also have a client asking you for the wrong solution to a problem. Rather than just going along with what they ask for, help them and your employees by looking for alternatives and presenting them in a way that your clients see the benefit. Doing the wrong thing just because that is what a client says they want is a sure path to a drama-filled environment.

What is the potential downside of saying “no?” The obvious one is that you have can have someone above you who is now mad at you, or who has lost faith in you. Depending on your organization’s culture, and the effect of saying “no” on the bottom line, and the frequency with which you do it, you may find yourself being replaced. That’s scary, but so is getting fired for doing a lousy job because you took on too much and were not realistic.

One way to limit the negative effects is to be frugal in saying “no,” and to try to find alternatives. You cannot avoid new work every time it is presented simply because you do not want to do it; save your “no” for when you really cannot get it done without doing some serious damage elsewhere.

Be transparent about why you can’t do something, and be clear about the effects if you were to say “yes,” especially if it would negatively impact something else the same person wants you to do. In that case, you might offer them the choice: which is more important? If possible, you should always try to find an alternative; maybe delaying the new work until later, maybe finding someone else who can do it, maybe combining projects to save on overlapping work. It’s important to make it clear that in saying “no” you are actually trying to help rather than just get out of doing work.

Yes, sometimes you will have people upset with you because you said “no.” Other times, though, they had no idea they were overloading you, and they would have been more upset had you not been honest, and ended up failing. Most people will appreciate your honesty. For those who don’t — for those who insist on you doing everything they ask and who don’t want to take “no” for an answer — you just need to be prepared for the possibility of not doing your best work.

“No” is not something we’re often used to hearing in the workplace. Maybe if we were, we could all do better work.