Everyone has their tipping point. In theory, this point isn’t reached very often. In the practice of PR, this point could very well be reached almost every day.
You know this isn’t a healthy way to live. Working until 11pm most nights of the week, catering to a picky client, taking crap from a slightly senior member of the team, or doing so well that your supervisor would prefer to give you the big projects because she feels she can “trust you.” No matter what gets you to your “last straw” moment, whether it’s positive or not, is frustrating to the point of tears.
Learning how to say no is a talent acquired over time. And it needs to be done in a diplomatic, sympathetic and compromising way. Here are some of our tips for pushing back when you’ve just reached the point of “enough”:
Be Vocal (and Be Honest!) – No one is ever going to know if you have too much on your plate if you never say anything. When I first started, I knew I had twelve hours worth of work on my plate for the day, but I never told my supervisors what specific items were taking up my to-do’s, so they continued to give me projects with quick deadlines. By the eighth week of working 65 hours plus, I was burnt out to say the least. Be 100% honest about what you have on your plate, don’t hide small tasks or admin items, because those are the things that usually keep you in the office until all hours.
Be a Little Selfish – Your time is worth something, always remember that. Your company is charging much more than you actually make for your time, so you should think about your worth to your client. If I superior is asking you to complete tedious tasks that she was assigned, push back. There is always a time when you’ll need to pitch in to stuff gift bags, make name tags or finish a briefing book, but if the assignment could easily be handled by your superior, ask if she is able to complete it on her own so you can focus on doing your best work.
Be Realistic – You understand that the work just has to get done, but it doesn’t have to get done by you, and most likely it doesn’t have to get done right this second. If your manager asks you to work on a project you simply won’t have time for until later in the week, suggest another member of the team can start the assignment and you can come in later in the week when you have more time. If it’s an urgent assignment, be realistic with your current to-do list and look at some items you can give back to your teams. Unless you’ve been putting off admin work you are responsible for, they should be more than willing to take some items of your plate – you have probably done the same for them!
How have you learned how to say no?
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Comments
These are really great tips — and as someone who always had trouble saying “no” when I started out, I find these especially helpful. But, I have to say the the “Be a little selfish” tip is one that I don’t necessarily agree with. As someone who has put in my time doing all the mundane tasks that were assigned to me in my first years and, as a result, made my supervisor shine, I expect the same in return, now that I am able to distribute some of those same tasks. I did them with a smile on my face and I certainly expect others to do the same.
To be completely honest, I’d probably flip my lid if I assigned something to someone and they came back with “Are you able to complete this on your own?”
I don’t want to nitpick … but as someone who often shares your posts with our younger team members, this is one tip I’d want them to take with a grain of salt, as I don’t think I’m alone in this sentiment.
Hi Florida PR Girl – We absolutely did not mean to say a PR girl needs to pay her dues. All three of us happily ran errands, grabbed coffee, uncluttered schedules and made cold-calls for YEARS before we reached the levels we’re at today. However, there is a difference between completing these assignments and doing your superior’s dirty work. Example – if an account executive asks an account coordinator to do the media mailing that SHE was assigned by the account supervisor, we believe it is completely fair for the AC to push back a littler here. Offer to help, but if the task was specifically given to the AE there is no reason the AC should take on this work without the account supervisor’s knowledge.
Hope this clears things up. Believe us – we’re happily stuffing gift bags every week at every level of the game