4 Ways of saying "NO" for organization and career growth !!

World is being a more competitive place and to retain customers and increase the sales / turnover of an organisation, there are many things a company can plan / strategize. But many times the company plans to achieve these strategies by squeezing the existing resources.

But since many employees fear saying "NO" to the managers, they take the tasks / additional load which would impact the productivity levels of their existing tasks :

Am not saying here that each task an employee receives, must say "NO" to it, but my point is that the employee needs to evaluate it before accepting. 

1. What is current occupancy level ? 

Nobody in the organisation is working for 100% of their working hours. This is a known fact to all. But the occupancy level differs for each employee. The employee needs to evaluate the occupancy level and based on the same if it is more than 75% then he can explain the same to the manager in a logical way to say "NO" to the tasks. 

Why 75% ? It is because upto 75% we are all expected and can deliver the assigned. Remaining 25% is always used for networking / unnecessary meeting participation / coffee / relaxation time. Infact for some 75% itself is a high percentage. 

2. What is the required work hours ? 

It is important to access the work hours required for the new task / additional load. If the employee is not be aware of the work hours required for the new tasks, it is important to discuss the same with the Manager / leader. 

Define the phase points for each task, define the amount of time required to complete each tasks and then summation of the time should give the required work hours. 

3. Is it in my area of interest ? 

Not necessary that additional tasks received would be in my area of work always. But many times the organisation expects the employees to take up additional tasks which might not be in area of interest. Understand if the time required in too high for the new task and not in your area of interest, this might also have impact on the productivity of existing tasks. Therefore, this needs to be made clear to Managers on the area of interest and if any additional task you could work in the area of interest. 

4. What if my Manager doesn't listen to these ? 

Afterall, please remember that you and your manager both are working for the same organizational growth. So each and everyone of us are equally responsible for the growth of the organization. Explain the scenarios and if still the manager would want to complete the additional task, then make sure you explain the impact of this on existing task (delay in schedules, increase in costs, customer satisfaction level, loss in sales etc...). Also make sure that you not only have a verbal explanation, but also minute it and send an email. 

If you fail to say "NO" without evaluation, you would not do justice to your existing tasks and the additional load, thus hampering both the organizational strategies and career growth.

These are "My Thoughts" and am again re-iterating that these above are not excuses to take up additional tasks, these should be logical explanations and evaluating impacts on existing tasks, working towards the common organization goal and growth.