TJ Walker offers practical advice for respectfully saying no in the office, emphasizing active listening, avoiding interruptions and premature judgments, and checking whether a request is actually feasible to accommodate (e.g., hitting 'go live' remotely). The clip targets common anxieties about refusing requests from colleagues or bosses and recommends clarifying the ask before declining.
What's the best way to say no when you have to communicate with people in an office environment? Need to maintain respect, and so often people fear that if I say no to this person, they're going to be like, I don't respect them. This is especially common if your boss is asking you to do something. Work late, and you already have plans with your family, you really, really want to say no, but you're afraid to. So the best approach sometimes is to look at someone. Listen to them. Don't cut them off. They may be asking you something, you think you know what it is, but really it's a small subset of that. It might actually be something you can do. So be careful not to prejudge. Be careful not to interrupt. All they needed you to do was to hit go live for a video, which you could do from your cell phone at your kid's soccer game. So listen carefully first, without trying to spin answers in your own head about how can I say no quickly and easily.
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