Trade Secrets: How to Say "No" and Mean It
Around the office, Kayla Weimer is known as a project manager extraordinaire and the queen of making difficult conversations seem not so difficult. We asked her to spill some secrets.
A very informal poll (ok, more like an observation) recently revealed that one of the most challenging parts of managing clients is recognizing when to push back and how to do it without burning bridges.
Saying “no” doesn’t always come easy, especially when you consider that our jobs are focused on solving business challenges, supercharging successes and, simply put, getting s**t done. We’re all eager to help but sometimes the reality is we can’t.
Cue this brief lesson in how to say, “thanks for checking in but nah,” in a nice way of course.
When to push back
While each client and every instance is different, here are some good indicators that it might be time to let ‘em down easy:
Unreasonable - we can’t accommodate the timeline being asked of us and/or it doesn’t set us up for success
Not feasible - we can’t get the work done within the existing agreement, the budget has already been exceeded, we’re too many rounds deep, etc.
Not advisable - we object to what is being asked of us because it doesn’t serve the strategy we set forth or the goals/objectives we are tasked with achieving
Pro Tip: If you set boundaries from the beginning, it’s much easier to push back later and sometimes you don’t even have to because you won’t get outrageous requests unless the situation truly demands it.
How to do it, nicely
If your situation reaches the “negative ghostrider” threshold, there are a few key steps you can take to keep things running smoothly:
Take a beat - instead of answering on the spot (which frequently creates more problems than it solves), put a pin in it so you can come up with a solution that works for everyone. This means it’s time to chat with Molly, the studio and anyone that will be doing the work to come up with a manageable approach.
Pro Tip: we don’t always have insight into what’s really driving the ask (i.e., the powers that be may be making demands) so remember we’re all on the same team and approach the situation with empathy.
Give options - people like to control their own destiny so come up with a few feasible options and let your client choose what works best. This usually looks like prioritization so it forces everyone to quickly align on what’s most important.
Master the compromise - almost every situation can be handled with a little negotiation. Maybe we can’t deliver everything by the timeline asked of us, but we can do part of it. Or maybe it means the SG has to take back another project to free up the studio to work on the more urgent ask. If we can give a little on our side, clients are generally happy to meet us in the middle.
Keep it real - sometimes the only answer is just a straight up “no” and when that happens, you can use it as a chance to be clear about how we expect to work together moving forward. For example, if the timeline isn’t conducive to quality work, explain what a reasonable timeline for that deliverable looks like so there is a better frame of reference moving forward.
Hold your ground - here’s the real secret to pushing back, you have to stick to it. And that means everyone on the team has to tow the line too. The quickest way to undermine client confidence (and team morale) is to present different narratives so get everyone on board in advance.