Timeline for How to say No to idea given by team member, when I know from my experience that it is going to fail?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
19 events
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| Dec 11, 2019 at 11:22 | comment | added | Graham | @FrankHopkins Gotcha. I agree that often the person in authority needs to say "I'm making a call on this". But when they do, having the discussion and seeing the evidence each way is a constructive way to make sure your team keeps mutual respect. And if this is someone's pet project, giving the reason why you made that call can give the basis for them to improve their evidence. | |
| Dec 11, 2019 at 3:11 | comment | added | Jeff | @FrankHopkins I agree with your point. I feel that the answer could be improved by including something of how to address that situation e.g. “if after discussion the difference of opinion comes down to something that’s is not feasibly measurable/is subjective e.g. probably of user uptake, address that by saying ‘it seems we agree that the feature could be good, but I’m not convinced there would be uptake. I’m going to have to make a call based on my experience and understanding of the stakeholders - thanks for bringing it up but we will go ahead with the current plan’” or something like that. | |
| Dec 11, 2019 at 1:54 | comment | added | Frank Hopkins | @Graham "bad boss" as in good cop, bad cop and as in act with authority and cut the discussion short. | |
| Dec 11, 2019 at 0:22 | comment | added | Graham | @FrankHopkins It's not being a bad boss to say that you have evidence customers won't buy it, or at least that you have evidence it won't make back the investment. If you have that. It's also not being a bad boss to tell the person coming up with the idea to look around for costings and expected payback time, because they might find out themselves that it's not going to fly. Nor even that you can't do it because no-one's free and you have bigger projects running. What's truly bad would be a boss turning down a profitable idea because they "just know" it won't work, against evidence it will. | |
| Dec 10, 2019 at 19:22 | comment | added | Frank Hopkins | @perenniallydisappointed There is always a good point in hearing everyone out, but as team leader the final decision rests with you. In an optimal case, you can convince everyone, but sometimes you cannot. This is not about pretending, but about making sure to get the suggestion right, and giving reasons as good as possible why you reject them. Whether your reasons convince everyone is another matter, as a boss it sometimes falls onto you to decide to move on nonetheless. | |
| Dec 10, 2019 at 17:26 | comment | added | perenniallydisappointed | @FrankHopkins, if you're not open to discussion and are going to reject the idea on the basis of authority anyway, there's no point in pretending otherwise. | |
| Dec 10, 2019 at 16:34 | comment | added | JimmyJames | This is a good answer and I would suggest that you structure this conversation in a way that the burden is on the proposer to convince you that it will work, not that you are trying to convince them that it won't. As in the answer, you must lay out your reasons clearly. Keep an open mind, there might be something different about their proposal (or situation) that makes it work when it wouldn't before. A lot or approaches that failed in the past are now viable due to the fantastic growth in addressable RAM, for example. | |
| Dec 10, 2019 at 14:58 | comment | added | Frank Hopkins | @perenniallydisappointed this is not about proving something or 'being right' it is about convincing people and about leading. I'm just saying that reasoning and explaining and discussing are good, but as a boss sometimes you have to go by experience and decide by authority (if there is time, best after listening and providing your experience). | |
| Dec 10, 2019 at 14:44 | vote | accept | Vinod Sawant | ||
| Dec 10, 2019 at 14:21 | comment | added | perenniallydisappointed | @FrankHopkins, it is unreasonable to insist that there is no future demand for X because there was no demand for X in the past. Demand shifts as circumstances change. Moreover, it is not necessary to be unreasonable in this manner: the burden of proof should fall on those who claim that there IS demand for X. | |
| Dec 10, 2019 at 14:21 | comment | added | benxyzzy | Presuming this answer (and the others like it) seek to address the "how to say no..." part of the question, it runs the risk of appearing disingenuous if you are advocating "saying no" by engaging in a faux-"what should we do?" debate. "Discussions" where we "all agree" that a dictated course of action is best are commonplace such that employees usually spot the ruse, and they resent it because the intervening faux-debate wastes their time and demands that they engage in the building of the lie aimed at them. If you're dictating a "no" at least grant your employees the courtesy of honesty. | |
| Dec 10, 2019 at 12:51 | comment | added | Frank Hopkins | Generally agreed, though there are some aspects that come down to practical experience and weighing of potential things that could happen, e.g. the general company members accepting a new feature. While that feature might look great on paper, experience might be that office workers will not pick it up for behavioural reasons. You sure can say that, but it will not always convince people from whose perspective the feature makes total sense and they surely will get it right such that it is irresistible. So, fully support this approach, but would add that sometimes you have to be the bad boss. | |
| Dec 10, 2019 at 10:09 | comment | added | ObscureOwl | Indeed. If this approach failed in the past, hopefully you know why it failed back then. Ask them what their new plan does to prevent the same thing going wrong. | |
| Dec 10, 2019 at 7:39 | history | edited | ig-dev | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Dec 10, 2019 at 4:51 | history | answered | ig-dev | CC BY-SA 4.0 |