It might only be two small letters but the word “No” is one of the hardest ones to say. This is particularly true in project management when it comes to talking to your stakeholders; mostly because they have so much power over your project.
Stakeholders might want to limit your available resources, expedite your timeline or shift the scope of the project, and they can do so while expecting you and your team to keep everything on schedule. When you know that the request is not feasible for the project you need to know how to say “No” in the most effective way.
Here are some of the ways you can do this.
Be clear from the start
Often, how you manage stakeholder expectations for your project sets the pattern from the outset. It is perfectly acceptable for there to be some tolerance within your project plan to allow for adjustments to time, budget and even resources. However, you need to establish these at the beginning and make sure they are clear. That way, when changes go beyond acceptable boundaries, you have already set out why there will be a “no” to any new requests.
Discuss the consequences
Even with the best pre-planning in place there are still stakeholders who make unrealistic requests during a project. Giving a firm no may seem like an empowering move but it isn’t always the best tactic. What you need to do is explain what the consequences might be of the requests being added to the project. Rather than “no we can’t do that” you need to say that you will need more time, more budget or more resources to reach the outcome requested.
Have a contingency plan
It might be the job of the project manager to work out what the impact of any change might be on the project. However, ultimately it is the stakeholders who will have the final say. If they want to make a change but will not adjust other factors to accommodate it then it is vital to make sure that you have a contingency plan in place. This will allow you to negotiate so that they get what they want but in terms that will work for you and the project team.
Avoid surprises
One of the worst things that can happen on a project is to find that what you initially thought could be accomplished cannot. It can be all too easy to avoid saying no because you are concerned about the pushback that might occur if you upset a stakeholder. Avoid surprises wherever possible by addressing issues as soon as they come up; don’t wait until later in the project to tackle them.
Say no when necessary
If you do have to say no to something that a stakeholder has requested to avoid de-railing the project entirely, make sure that you are polite about the manner in which you say it. Being polite will keep your stakeholder on side.
