The Art Of Saying no: How To Stand Your Ground, Reclaim Your Time And Energy, And Refuse To Be Taken For Granted

HOW TO SAY NO TO YOUR BOSS
I
deally, your boss would be aware of your workload. He or
she would know what’s on your plate, and have a solid
grasp of your availability. So when your boss assigns new
projects and delegates new tasks, he or she would
reprioritize your current responsibilities.
That’s how things should work, anyway.
Unfortunately, the real world runs less smoothly. Does
the following scenario sound familiar?
You’re sitting in your office working through a mile-long
to-do list. You’re also fielding phone calls from coworkers,
clients, and vendors. While you work, a small voice in the
back of your head nags you to respond to emails and return
phone calls.
You look at the clock and realize you have a meeting in
15 minutes. It’s one of many scheduled throughout the day.
You silently think, “how can I get anything accomplished
with so many meetings on my calendar?”
At that moment, you glance at the inbox on your desk.
You instantly regret doing so. Despite your best efforts, your
inbox is growing, making you feel as if you’ve yet to make a
serious dent in your workload.
You feel your stress levels rising. You have too much to
do and not enough time to get everything done. Worse,
there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.

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While you’re feeling overwhelmed, you receive an email
from your boss. Curious, you click to read it. She’s asking
you to take on yet another project. You sigh in
discouragement because you have neither the time nor
bandwidth. You barely have time to take a lunch break.
But how do you say no? How do you turn down your
boss, the person who controls your professional time?
Many folks simply absorb the new work. They grin and
bear it because they feel uncomfortable saying no. They
fear their bosses will consider them difficult to work with,
which might negatively impact their careers.
But there’s value in communicating your limits. You’ll
not only manage your stress levels, but you’ll also avoid
being stretched too thin. The last thing you want is to take
on new projects for which you have no time. Doing so is a
recipe for frustration and failure.
While saying no may be difficult - delivering bad news is
always difficult - there are ways you can soften the blow.
Following are a few suggestions.
First, when responding to your boss, be forthright about
your current workload and resulting lack of availability.
Explain that you wouldn’t be able to do a good job on the
new project given everything else that’s on your plate. If
you’re already working under pending deadlines, mention
them.
Second, ask questions regarding the new project. When
is it due? What does it involve? What skills are required? Will
you need to coordinate activities among a group of