At times, "No" is a valid answer. But usually, answers like "Not At This Time", or "At the expense of what?", or "Let's discuss it" probably work better, especially in "Agile" environments. Saving Changes...
George LewisProgram/Project Manager| DXC Technology CompanyHeredia, Costa Rica
By the way, can we say no to an Unwanted Project? Which we know is going to fail because of fundamental triple constraints analysis.
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1 reply by Dinah Young
May 10, 2018 1:36 PM
Dinah Young
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That depends on how your company is set up and what the project is. I had a project that came to our team to create a Tracking application for our CIO. I knew it was never going to be used and was a waste of time. I said as much. But we had to do it. Guess what. It was never used. It was a vanity project.
Saving Changes...
Dinah YoungProject Manager / Software Asset Manager| Prince William CountySpringfield, Va, United States
May 10, 2018 11:52 AM
Replying to George Lewis
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By the way, can we say no to an Unwanted Project? Which we know is going to fail because of fundamental triple constraints analysis.
That depends on how your company is set up and what the project is. I had a project that came to our team to create a Tracking application for our CIO. I knew it was never going to be used and was a waste of time. I said as much. But we had to do it. Guess what. It was never used. It was a vanity project. Saving Changes...
Strategy is the hard task of knowing WHAT to say "No" to. Leadership teams which don't learn to say "No" are not leadership teams but rather living in make believe worlds where we have infinite resources...
How you say "No" as a PM is important as you'll rarely have formal authority to do so - that's where the art of influence & persuasion comes in...
Kiron Saving Changes...
John DuncanRetired| RetiredLebanon, Tn, United States
I'm a fan of the "review and get back to you" approach.
Another angle is to agree that it could be done, but the business case needs more work, or there are other more strategic projects that need to be completed first, etc. Saving Changes...
John SharpProgram Manager| DiversifiedNashville, Tn, United States
I believe that ultimately the project has to add value to the company not just the stakeholder.
If it does add value then the answer is yes, in most cases, but if it is no then the stakeholder has to substantiate the value and have it re-evaluated. In our case it is never an initial no it is always evaluated for its value to the company before an answer is given. So the answer is let's evaluate it for its value and we will go from there. A lot of times that will stop it right there and no further action is needed. Saving Changes...
There should be a NO log if not appended to the Change Log. Saving Changes...
George LewisProgram/Project Manager| DXC Technology CompanyHeredia, Costa Rica
Interesting artice by Rick Brenner...
Have you ever thought "Why did I ever agree to do that?"? Have you ever wished that you knew better how to say no — or even how to avoid volunteering to do something — without suffering undue consequences? Giving a firm and clear No can feel good if it comes from a place of high self-esteem. Saving Changes...
George LewisProgram/Project Manager| DXC Technology CompanyHeredia, Costa Rica
What can go wrong when we say-yes? Saving Changes...
