How to Say No at Work

If you’ve been a manager for any length of time, you’ll have experienced struggles with what is often called ‘time management’, but would better be called ‘how-the-hell-does anyone-get-all-this-stuff-done-and-why-am-I-working-on-weekends-again management’.

At this point, if you’ve ever sought any advice on how to handle all your commitments, you may have been told:

‘You should get better at saying no to things.’

On the one hand, this is excellent advice.   Most managers’ responsibilities bloat and there probably is stuff which we can delegate or de-prioritise.   

But actually saying no to others can be easier said than done (otherwise we’d have done it already).   

So it was great to read tech leadership coach Pat Kua recently break down four tips on how to say no at work (all of which we agree with).

1. Have a clear focus: this is where it all starts.  You have to be clear on the most important things you should be working on to confidently assess what you shouldn’t be.  If you want some additional clarity on this, this is where ‘managing up’ can be useful.  Ask your own boss what the most important thing they need to see from your team is and check you’re aligned.  This way when someone asks for your time, you can a) assess whether it aligns with your priorities and b) if it doesn’t, give a clear reason for your no. 

2. Block out time in advance: one of the contradictions of management is you were probably given the job because you’re good at juggling multiple balls and context switching between tasks, but in order to do the job well, you also need to carve out chunks of time where you can reflect and focus (see our article on how Managers are Makers Too).  Depending on your company culture, it can be easier to say ‘no’ if you can point to a full calendar.  So make sure the focus time you need is blocked off, as you would a meeting.  

3.  Ask when it’s due: the person asking something of you will always be crossing their fingers that you can do the task quickly, but that kind of response might not be necessary at all.  Always ask, ‘when do you need this by?’.  You might be amazed to find out that a supposedly urgent ask only really needs to be done by next Friday, you can breathe a little easier, and say ‘not this week, but I can get it to you before that deadline.’

4. Redirect the request: as Kua notes, it’s nice to say yes to people, but redirecting someone’s request to another colleague who’s as or better qualified to deal with it, also gets the work done.  If you’re delegating the task to someone on your team to give them a new professional opportunity, all the better (for a great tip on how to do this, read this from the Head of Engineering at Plaid).