How to Teach Your Team to Say No
As a team leader at work, it may seem counterintuitive to encourage your team to say no. After all, what boss doesn’t want their staff to do as much as possible at work? The answer is bosses who care about their teams wellbeing AND productivity! Countless studies have shown that overworked, burnt out employees get less done, make more mistakes, and are more likely to leave their jobs for better opportunities. So as a leader, teaching your team to say no is actually an incredibly positive thing to do, for your staff and your business.
But why is “how to say no professionally” something that needs to be taught? Isn’t it something that should be easy for everyone to do naturally? No, it’s not! The inability to say no in the workplace is a hugely common problem that many people struggle with, and teaching your staff this skill will benefit everyone.
Why You Need to Learn to Say No at Work
We’ve already touched on some of the problems that come when workers say yes to too many projects and end up overworked and stressed out. But let’s put some stats behind these problems to see how big an issue they really are.
Firstly, let’s look at the idea that working more hours is actually less productive than fewer hours. According to Stanford, studies have consistently shown that when staff work longer than 40-50 hours each week, their total productivity drops below the level it was when they worked under 40-50 hours. This means that if you work say 11 hours per day, you are actually going to get less done than if you worked 9 hours per day. This is partially because you become so much less efficient over long workdays, but also because you are much more likely to make mistakes that take many more hours to fix.
Secondly, let’s explore how burnout affects work performance and the risk of employees leaving a job altogether. A recent study has shown that the burnout rate for the workforce in 2022 has remained high, with 61% of workers experiencing burnout. 63% of respondents agreed that this burnout negatively impacts their work productivity and 25% said it caused them to have trouble focusing and concentrating on work tasks because of it.
Another study has shown that 1 in 4 workers have quit a job due to burnout related mental health issues, and 40% have considered it. This lines up closely with 37% of respondents sharing they felt overworked, which contributed to their burnout.
How to Say No Professionally at Work
Now that we’ve shared why it’s so important for staff members to say no to requests, let’s go through the nitty gritty of how to actually do it. Here are some top tips for teaching your team how to politely say no to a request.
1. Practice
There is no better way to get good at something than to practice it. Have your team give examples of times they were asked to do something they wished they could say no to. Then have each team member practice saying no to this whole range of questions. Have them say the words out loud, type practice emails, have mock phone calls and send practice texts so they rehearse saying no in a variety of ways. Although it may seem silly at first, having the right words and the confidence to actually deliver them is a great way to build these skills.
2. Give a Short Reason Why You Are Saying No
Letting the person who is asking you to do something know why you aren’t able to do it is a way to make a ‘no’ easier to say and to hear. Provide your staff with the right language to express the reasons they aren’t able to take on a new task. Work together with employees to create some stock replies to common requests. These could be things like:
I am currently using all my bandwidth on X project, so I’m not able to take on a different project now.
I need to prioritize my primary responsibility of X, and I can’t add additional tasks right now.
3. Focus on the Positives
When someone has asked you to do something, one of the reasons it can be so hard to say no is because you recognize this person needs help and knows you are capable of helping them. A way to make it much easier to say no to that kind of request is to offer them other solutions. This way they are able to get the task done, just without you being the one who does it.
You can focus on the positives by recommending another person who can help, a program or tool that can make the job easier, or a way in which this job could be made unnecessary. It’s also important to phrase your refusal empathetically. Let the person asking you know that you understand this means more work for them, and that you appreciate their confidence in you to help them.
Moser Consulting: Investing in People to Drive Results
At Moser, we know how important the people are in getting any job done. We invest in our people to make sure they are performing their best for you. Empowering employees to say no to things when they need to means they are saying yes to doing their job well. We teach our consultants to say no to being overworked, so they can invest in you and your business. We encourage you to teach your staff to do the same so we can produce innovative solutions to technology problems together.
