Hello, we’re talking about saying ‘No’ at work and how to finesse this with respect to work styles. I’m using Market Force styles—Control, Influence, Power and Authority—to illustrate how handing a deluge of projects and requests at work by saying no can challenge each work style.
In my last post, I listed these two lessons:
Lesson one for Controls: Balance time discussing what you’re working on with a healthy debate on why. This is because Controls often handle being overwhelmed by becoming micro-managers.
Lesson two for Influences: People are more important than projects. Influences will be sure they know it, but must be sensitive to people with other styles who might feel like they’re wasting time in meetings. They must also avoid over-promising (a habit because they value relationships).
And now here are the rest.
Lesson three: It’s not about time, it’s about value: validate your projects and contributors.
For those with the Power work style, busybusybusy is kind of a drug. When they say, “Oh, I have a million things on my plate right now! I’m working 60-plus hour weeks and still have more to do,” they’re not complaining. They’re bragging. The subtext is “Look how important and indispensible I am!” Continue reading
