Is saying "No!" an important Tool for your Business?
Did you ever consider that
Saying "No" is an important Tool for your Business?
Last week I encouraged my client in her role as Finance Director to more often say "No" to her colleagues. Saying "No" in her case meant saying "Yes" to Financial discipline and saying "Yes" to Focus on the most impactful projects for their business.
Let me explain this:
As a finance director - or as a business owner -, one of your primary responsibility is to manage the business´ finances. You clearly show financial discipline by saying "no" to requests that do not align with the company's financial goals and objectives.
Saying "no" ensures that you focus your resources on projects and initiatives with the biggest impact for your business, rather than spreading it across too many initiatives.
Other benefits of saying "No"
Among my clients I have seen several other benefits of saying "no".
--> Improved communications
You ensure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to priorities and resource allocation. Saying "no" provides the opportunity to have a constructive conversation about why a request was denied and what can be done to address the underlying issues.
--> Encouraging efficiency and productivity:
When you say "no" more often, you are encouraging your colleagues to be more efficient and productive: if they know that they cannot get everything they request, they will be more thoughtful about their requests and prioritize their work accordingly. This will lead to better use of resources and a more productive team.
"How does this help my business?"
> 1. Ask yourself: "How many times per week do I say "no" to requests from colleges?"
>> 2. Based on that answer, ask yourself: "How would I rate my ´no-saying-skills´ from 1 to 10?"
>>> 3. And now in a bigger context, ask yourself: "How well does saying "no" work within my business and among my colleges?" Now also rate this from 1-10.
If questions 2 and 3 score below 6, it may be wise to give this topic some more attention within your company.
I am open to further talk about this and other topics related to the improvement of your Business Result. Feel free to reach out via LinkedIn or via the contact from of this website.
Joris van der Heijden is Controller for a day. His business is improving your business. He provides guidance and implementation of financial control and business control for European small-medium-sized businesses (SME) in Spain and The Netherlands.
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Inspired by Corporate Rebels and Liz Fosslien