Ask Away Is It Ever Okay to Say #8216;No#8217; at Work

Ask Away Is It Ever Okay to Say 8216No8217 at Work Welcome toAsk AwayEvery Monday,we pose an employment-related question to a group of experts and share their answers. Have a question youd like to ask the experts?Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in next weeksAsk Away This Weeks Question You have a job to do, and you answer to a boss but is it ever okay to say no at work? When, if ever, do you have the power to decline to do something a supervisor or colleague asks you to do? Are there ever instances when you should say no?I love when my employees say no to me. It means they are thinking for themselves, as opposed to just following an archaic method of top-down leadership.However, I do bedrngnis expect to receive a no without an explanation. I want my workers to reason to think intelligently to transform our company, Royce Leather, into something better than it is today.- Andr ew Royce kfigCEORoyce Leather1.) Say no when you cant do your job At your job, you probably have core things that youre responsible for (account management, customer support, etc.), but you also have other auxiliary responsibilities. When you a hit point when these auxiliary things get in the way of your core duties, its time to refocus on whats important. Say no to things that cause you to lose focus or incorrectly prioritize2.) Say no when you dont understand the requirements Your colleague wants you to come for support to the next project meeting. If you dont know the goal of the meeting, or it isnt clear from the agenda how youll add value, skip it. Say no to requests that just arent thought out. Theyll only end up wasting time.- Sean HigginsCofounderilos VideosFirst, you must know what your job requirements are. If you are asked to do more, or asked to do the job of someone else, then you can say no. It is not about being rude it is about setting boundaries and valuing yourself . If you do not value yourself, than no one else will. At the end of the day, if you loose your job because you set a boundary and valued yourself, then why would you want to work for that company anyway?- Leo WillcocksAuthor, Consultantwww.leowillcocks.comToo many employees want to do a great job or impress their bosses. In doing so, they often say yes to requests from supervisors when they know they may not be the best for the job or have the time to complete it. This ends up leaving employees to fail at doing something they committed to, which can make them look unreliable in their supervisors eyes.Instead of saying yes when you dont feel confident, say, I would love to, but could I please get some assistance in this area where I am not quite the strongest? I really am excited to learn Youll be looked at positively and get the chance to learn something new.Instead of saying yes when you dont have the time, say, I have to get this done by a deadline first. Can the task wait, or do es it take priority over these other things? Let the supervisor decide what is the best use of your time but make sure they know youd love to help.- Joshua RubinFounderCreative CaliforniaIt is absolutely okay to say no at work I believe a big part of being a professional is knowing your limitations. You should always know what the expectations of the job are and plan on being a team player. Sometimes youll be asked to do things that fall outside of your job description, and its important to say yes as much as you can. But, you need to know your limits, and this is when its okay to say no. Be graceful when saying no at work, and help your supervisor or coworkers understand what you have on your plate. Let them know youll be happy to help out when you have more bandwidth. A good workplace should respect your limits and more importantly, saying no can help an employee avoid burnout.- Heather NeisenHR ManagerTechnologyAdvice I believe that saying no is the trait of the most successful people in the world. Having the confidence to say no at the right times shows bosses that you have focus and confidence. Important qualities.Reasonable bosses would want you to say no if that extra work would compromise what youre working on at the moment, if it would cause excessive stress, or if it would lead to an unfavorable outcome.- Sandip SekhonCEO and FounderGoGetFunding.comThere are always circumstances when you should say no. What scares me is that so many employees let stupidity trump logic.Your company is not paying you to say yes. It is paying you to think. Im known for telling my teams, At least 25 percent of what Im going to suggest is completely wrong. Its our job to work together to figure out what that 25 percent is. If something feels stupid, it probably is. Lets talk about it. Either way, we both learn.- Karin HurtAuthor and CEOLets Grow LeadersIt is best not to agree to anything that could potentially cause your job performance and productivity to suffer. Eve n if your boss tries to pressure you into taking the assignment, remain firm in your position and calmly let them know that your schedule is packed and that you are unable to take on extra work.If your boss insists, make sure you are fully aware of the details of what youre getting yourself into. For instance, higher-ups may not be particularly specific in their requests. In such cases, you can ask them how much time you will need to devote to complete the assignment. This way, instead of taking on more than you can handle, you can inform your bosses of any ongoing projects or preplanned arrangements so that they can help accommodate your needs.- Michael LanSenior Resume ConsultantResume Writer Direct In general the correct, answer at work is yes almost all the time, but here are the rare times that it is okay to say no1.) You are asked to take on the work of another coworker because they are lazy or disorganized and you have been picking up the slack for this person for quite some time. As long as your boss is aware of this issue, it is okay to say no to saving this person yet again.2.) When you are under the weather and approaching burnout because you have been putting in long hours. It is okay to say no as long as you also say its a no for now until you can get some proper rest. Setting healthy self-care boundaries for yourself is okay.3.) If you think the request is outside of your expertise and/or your comfort level you have to say no and let your bosses know that you always enjoy the excitement of working on new things, but this is not something that you feel is using your skills in the best way. Be sure to recommend something that you think would fit your skills.- Kathi ElsterExecutive Coach and geschftlicher umgang StrategistK Squared Enterprises