Protect Your Roadmap, Just Say No

Steve Jobs once said

“Exceptional results come from what you avoid. Be quick to say no and slow to say yes“

It amazes me how important the word no can be to the success of a company, and yet very little is done to teach employees how to say no in an effective way.

Strategies for Saying No

1. Start With No. Someone once told me they worked at a company that’s product team first response to any request was always no. It wasn’t until the third time asking that a request was seriously considered. Starting with no will give you insight to how important a request is to a client. Unless they feel fairly strong about the idea, they will quickly move on in the conversation when given a no. Remember, you can always reverse a no but its very difficult to reverse a yes.

2. Divert to the future. When cornered with an unexpected request, respond with “I’ll get back to you”. This gives you time to think without the immediate social pressure, and it also allows a lot of these requests to just drop away because people choose not to follow up.

   How to Say No

   1. Appreciate the Feedback. Clients want to feel they are heard. They’re asking for your help because they trust you and they believe in your capabilities to help. So thank them for for sharing their feedback. Don’t worry; this doesn’t need to lead to a yes.

   2. Say no to the request, not the person. You’re not rejecting the person, just the idea. Maybe it aligns with their strategy, but it doesn’t with yours.

   3. Explain why. Having a reason helps people relate to your position. Maybe your roadmap is full, resource limitations, or a strategy focused on different market problems, technologies, etc. Be honest about why you’re saying no. The most effective way to get buy in is to backup this is up with numbers. For example, our data shows this change would only impacts 2% of your users, 90% our users aren’t using this feature at all. Many clients ask for features with little knowledge of the size or reach of the impact.

   4. Set Clear Boundaries. People will push the boundaries, so setting clear boundaries helps create a mutual understanding and sets the stage for future encounters. Folding at the sign of conflict does not set you up for success if future negotiations. You can make light of it if you want (“I know you don’t give up easily — but neither do I…. Let’s agree to disagree.”)

   5. Practice. Choose some easy, low-risk situations in which to practice saying no. Start with some small requests laying out your response as shown in this blog.

   6. Establish a pre-emptive no. We all have certain people in our lives who tend to make repeated, sometimes burdensome requests of us. In those cases, it’s better to say no before the request even comes in. Let that person know that you’re hyper-focused on a couple of things in your life and trying to reduce your obligations in all other areas. If it’s your boss who tends to make the requests, agree upfront with her about where you should be spending your time. Then, when the requests come in, you can refer to your earlier conversation.

   7. Be prepared to miss out. Some of us have a hard time saying no because we hate to miss an opportunity. And saying no always leads to a missed opportunity. But it’s not just a missed opportunity; it’s a tradeoff. Remind yourself that when you’re saying no to the request, you are simultaneously saying yes to something you value more than the request. Both are opportunities. You’re just choosing one over the other.

   8. Expect Escalations. Some clients do not take no well so be prepared that they may escalate. That’s okay, your job was to follow the strategy of your company, if it up to those above you to determine whether its worth taking the company off course to accommodate the client’s request.

   Avoid the Whiteboarding Trap:

   The whiteboarding trap is where a client mentions an idea in a meeting and it quickly turns into a whiteboarding session, where the client goes into great detail regarding their requirements and the solution they would like. This can spiral into an hour long brainstorming session with many negative impacts including:

   1. Expectation from Client that you are committing to the request.

   2. Overcomplicated solutioning or unnecessary scope creep when a much simpler or widely accepted solution is appropriate.

   3. Lost details/expectations because these meetings don’t include the right people and aren’t properly documented.

   4. Wasted time and energy because you haven’t gone through the proper process to vet the idea for roadmap.

   All this time and effort may all be for not if the request never makes it onto the roadmap. Pragmatic Institute’s approach to product management emphasizes evidence-driven decision-making to minimize the risk of over-investing in ideas that may not deliver value. This means, stick to talking about what problem they are trying to solve, save the solutioning for later. Your next steps after understanding the problem will be determining whether its worth solving.