Art of Saying NO

 In the present corporate world we often face the challenge of being overloaded with tasks which may not add any value to us either personally or in our professional career. These are instances when we are in need to say a NO for the task assigned.

The first fear factor which gets into the thoughts of many freshers or people with experience of up to 5 years is that when we say NO, we may be sacked from employment or we may not be given a right recognition during the performance review for the actual job which one might have completed on time or before time. This is where the art of saying NO takes a real shape.

The following is a real time conversation between a manager and an employee

Scenario 1:

Manager: Do complete the presentation for a meeting scheduled tomorrow. The content for the meeting has been mailed to you. (Task assigned time: 6 PM)

Vijay: Ok sir. Noted. Will complete the same and share the same with you. (Without checking the mail)

Manager: I need the presentation tomorrow morning by 9AM.

Vijay: Ok Sir.

Manager: Ok bye. Meet you tomorrow.

Here the Vijay has taken the task without having any background of the task or the quantum of the content which he may have to read through to make a presentation. He is unaware if the presentation is to be prepared only from the content shared or should he accumulate some more information from any other colleague. There is no clarity from the Manager regarding the duration of the presentation, the presenter, the target audience etc.

The moment he checks the mail he understands the following by reading the mail

1. The content shared is regarding the achievements that were accomplished during the Financial Year which he is not assigned as a responsibility

2. He need to collect pictures for the achievements to presented as they will add more value to the presentation

3. Many achievements were missing and the data is to be populated from colleagues who have already left home and may not be having sufficient access to data to complete the presentation

4. Require confirmation for the Financial Numbers from the Accounts team, who usually take at least one working day to provide the same

5. Above all, he was not monitoring the organizational achievements

At this point he felt that he could not give a proper presentation as committed. He gets into a factor of panic that he will be roasted the next morning for the incomplete task by his Manager.

So how to say NO???

Manager: Do complete the presentation for a meeting scheduled tomorrow. The content for the meeting has been mailed to you. (Task assigned time: 6 PM)

Vijay: Sir, let me check the mail first and understand the content. Give me some time.

Manager: I need the presentation tomorrow morning by 9AM.

Vijay: Sir, I doubt I may not be able to give a commitment on the time without knowing the content and by giving a blind commitment if I do not deliver it will become a bigger issue. Give me sometime to check and revert back to you.

(Check the mail and understand the entire content)

Vijay: Sir, the content shared to me is not something which I am looking after and this should be better assigned the right person which in this case is not me.😊

Manager: So you mean to say you cant take up this task.😡

Vijay: Yes sir.

In this scenario if observe the word NO has not been used in the entire conversation and still it has been communicated. It is not a mandate that we should say the word NO in all the instances.

Scenario 2:

Manager: I need a complete report on the accident that has occurred in our highway today morning on my desk by EOD. Do visit the accident spot collect the data from the team.

Vijay: Ok sir. I will take a leave immediately

When he reaches the accident spot he finds that the spot has been cleared by the legal authorities for the traffic movement and he could find only a few traces of some damaged sign boards. He is not sure if the damage is due to the accident or was it damaged earlier. As he requested his team for any photographs of the accident, he finds that there were no sufficient photos to trace the cause of the accident. He was only provided with a copy of the First Information Report filed by the Legal Authorities.

By then, he gets a call from the same Manager asking for the update on the report. As he was briefing, the manager again stresses for the final report to be given to him by EOD without giving any heed to the ground situation. And also communicates that he should go to another location, which is about 200 km from the accident spot, to repeat a training for the workers as the CEO is visiting the site.

All the above are his KPI's which were fixed in the start of the year. But the dates for the training was not fixed.

Now Vijay is loaded up with two tasks and he his loaded up. He should collect all the data for the accident, prepare the presentation and travel to the new location for the training program the following day. By the time he collects the data the time is 5 PM and he starts with the presentation with the thoughts of how he is going to provide the training program. By which none of the two tasks shall be completed effectively.

So how to say NO???

Manager: I need a complete report on the accident that has occurred in our highway today morning on my desk by EOD. Do visit the accident spot collect the data from the team.

Vijay: Ok sir. I will take a leave immediately assess the situation and let you know.

(When the training task is assigned)

Vijay: Sir, I get to know the seriousness of the training as well. But we did provide them a training on the same subject a fortnight ago. The report shall be completed once the data collection is complete and I shall return back to my base

Here, one should also prioritize the work based on the situation and communicate it effectively.