April 28, 2020: Question Series #18
Written By: Marc Moskowitz
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That’s right, simply knowing when and how to say NO will infinitely increase your ability to deliver projects and programs in a long-term, effective manner. It also just happens to be one of the hardest things to do in any job function, especially within the project management and executive-level disciplines. The ability to say NO is a key driver in getting promoted and achieving your desired success. In this Question Series article, we are going to explore when to say NO and how to say NO with a focus on the project management discipline. Let’s get started!
So, when should you say NO? That is the million-dollar question. As a project manager, you always want to please your stakeholders, your users, your project team, and those executives that are counting on you to deliver on their dreams and save the company! The truth is, being liked while pleasing this crowd on a regular basis means you are likely not doing your job well. I know some of you will grumble at that statement but it’s true. As a project manager, you are there to deliver on realistic objectives while ensuring your team has the tools, time, and fortitude to succeed. The world isn’t perfect, so saying NO will be a requirement from time to time. Let’s look at some of the times when you’re most likely to say it:
- Before accepting the PM role for the project: There have been several times in my career when I said NO to a project that I was being asked to lead. It’s most often the case for a project that has already been started or has already failed at least once before. Projects starting from scratch typically don’t have extenuating circumstances already at play at this point but could during the Project Charter or Business Case phase. After you have done your due diligence on the new assignment, if you think you are being set up to fail, just say NO. Think of this point in time like accepting a new job offer. The powers to be will never love you more than at this point. If you need something more to be successful, speak up at this time and ask for what you need. You will find that the vast majority of the time, you’ll get what you asked for. Remember, failure as a PM is zero-sum game. It’s hard to overcome a major failure in your career and move up the ladder from there. As such, don’t put yourself in a bad position before it even starts!
- Creation of the Project Charter / Business Case: You’re excited about your new project, the team is coming together, and you’re going to transform the entire company! It’s the typical honeymoon phase of the project. Everyone is happy and nothing could go wrong…until it does! The business case is where reality often meets the dream of a far-off executive and sometimes they contradict each other. It’s your job as the PM to ensure that what has been developed is realistic and executable within your organization’s guardrails. Again, you’re towards the beginning of the project at this point, so saying NO now exponentially reduces the heartache later. You’ll need to break out your best negotiation skills at this point and do a great job showing your stakeholders the relevant scenarios, costs, risks, and dependencies. Say NO if you don’t get what you think you need to succeed.
- When your budget is cut halfway through the project but nothing else changes: This is a classic situation that happens all too often. You’re off and running, business case approved, and the build out has started! You feel like you’re already a winner, until you find out that the company is under some cost pressure and they remove a significant portion of your budget. Back to square one, kind of. Although it’s always hard to wipe away your disappointment of not being able to build the Ferrari, no fear, you can restate the business case and/or project plans to reflect the new reality. That is your job after all! Just make sure to say NO when they cut your budget but don’t reduce your scope or expand your timelines. Many times, it’s an exercise/game of what concessions can I get across the organization for the least amount of pain. Your job is to make sure that pain doesn’t hit your project and team in unrealistic ways.
- When the executive team wants to give you more money, in exchange for a faster schedule or more scope: So, I can see you thinking, this scenario isn’t really that bad. Right? However, it often fool’s gold in terms of making this dream a reality. Sure, there are some times where more money is useful and gives you the ability to deliver more or go faster. That being said, there is a high percentage of projects where adding more people, technology, or tools, really won’t help you that much. Often it can be a hindrance. If you find yourself in this situation, be sure to take your time to evaluate what is being asked for in exchange for the money. Most PMs automatically say yes, with little deliberation, because who doesn’t like more money? The smart PMs will say NO, if the revised expectations are not in line with reality.
- When the development team pushes you to contract the system testing, integration testing, security testing, and/or user acceptance testing into a third of the time originally allotted: I know, I know. In the Agile world this is all supposed to happen in real-time, within each sprint, but it almost always gets left until the end when you’re short on time. What may seem like a great idea to bring home the project on-time is almost always a bad idea. As the PM, it is your reputation on the line, so it’s best to say NO to this idea. Find a way to do the proper testing or move the timeline as needed. It is better to be a few weeks late than deliver a project with poor quality, possible security issues, or not touched enough by the end users. It will cost you even more time or reputation when too many issues arise.
- When your gut tells you that your product is not ready for prime time/ production: This is a tough one to pinpoint and somewhat related to the previous point. If you don’t feel like your project is ready for the bright lights of the big city, it is your job to speak up and let the stakeholders know why. As with many of these points, having your data points well thought out is wise, but ultimately, it is your job to ensure what you’re putting out is a high-quality work product. Just say NO if you feel like your project is not ready to go and offer up a plan to get it ready. You’ll be thankful you did.
Now that you have seen some of the common times saying NO could be beneficial to you and your project, the next trick is how to say those magical two letters. Keep in mind that the overall objective of saying NO isn’t to be mean, be a Debbie Downer, or be pessimistic, but to ensure the success of the project, yourself and the company. Let’s look at how to say NO effectively and successfully:
- Be assertive and decisive, while taking the emotion out of the decision; remember the goal is to retain all relationships and decide on a path forward: When you finally decide to say NO, make sure you are convinced about it and be assertive with your explanations. After all, your intentions are genuine and you are trying to make everyone more successful. The biggest mistake you can make is getting emotional about your decision. It’s just a project! There will be more of them, I promise. Let the team know what it is you want and why you are throwing the red flag.
- Ensure you have facts/reasons to back up your decision to say NO: You’ve decided to say NO and that is just great! Be sure to have your facts ready to present on the issue at hand and what you need to fix it. Regardless of the issue, just saying NO is not enough. You must do a good job of explaining the situation, what you need to turn things around, and how you move forward from there. Facts are your friend.
- Be prepared to answer the question: What do you need/want to say YES? Ultimately, PMs want to say YES and make things happen, so come to the table with what you want: as mentioned above, come to the table prepared. One of the first questions you’ll be asked is what do you need to turn that frown upside down and say YES? Once that question is asked, it’s your time to go for it and let them know what it is; have different options and requests ready. You likely won’t get everything, and your negotiation skills will be front and center.
- Be ready to lay out alternate scenarios and let the stakeholders (or whomever you are telling NO) make the decision on how to proceed: This is one of my favorite paths to victory. You’ve said NO, and now your executive stakeholders are asking what you need. Poof! You turn around and present them with several realistic scenarios they can choose from. You’ve just won 90% of the battle and put the monkey back on their shoulder. It frames the conversation in a way that lets them know there is a problem and how they solve the problem for themselves. There is nothing more exciting to a senior executive than someone coming to them and asking them to solve a problem!
- The worst outcome you can have is saying NO and then switching to YES with nothing changing at all: I’ve seen it happen all too often, even with senior level Program/Project Managers. They throw the flag and say NO. After a 10-minute conversation, they change their mind. This situation is something that you want to avoid, if possible. It’s almost always a losing situation for you in the short term and will also hinder your ability to say NO in the future. Use all of the suggestions within this Question Series article to keep you out of this conundrum. If you do have to do this (it can happen to the best of us), try and frame the change-of-mind in a way that outlines why the skies seem to be bluer now than they were before. Lots of times, it’s key information that you weren’t privy to or something in the world around you that changed for the better. Spin it positively and don’t let anyone think you’ve backed down!
Now that you know When and How to say NO, you can rest assured that your path to victory is much clearer than before. Saying NO is always hard to do, but a must-do from time to time to ensure success. What are your Saying NO experiences? We’d like to hear all about them or any other tips and tricks on top of the ones mentioned.
Thanks for reading!
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