Email templates to help you say "no" in any situation

boing
1

Originally published at: Email templates to help you say "no" in any situation | Boing Boing

…

1 Like
2

Meeting participation is boiled down to the following:

  • (Input) I have information for the meeting (given offline to the meeting organizer.)
  • (Process) I want/need to participate in the meeting and need to set/influence a course of action.
  • (Output) I don’t need to participate in the meeting, but am interested in the outcome.
  • (No stake) This meeting does not have anything to do with me/my role.
6 Likes
3

What if you’re paid hourly? Damn right I’ll take a meandering, unfocused meeting that stretches well past the allotted time. Talk as long as you like…

13 Likes
4

Unfortunately, a lot of meetings are from the top down, where your precious time is messily devoured by some administrator’s desire to disgorge an infodump that could easily have been handled in a few e-mails.

14 Likes
5

“Thank you for understanding” is always a good phrase, it makes them think they should be understanding, even if they’re not.

5 Likes
6

I would also include

  • (Defense) I’m here to make sure you don’t fuck something up that I’ll have to clean up (again)

It could be argued this is a subset of Input, but I think it’s important enough to need it’s own category

7 Likes
7

Managemensturbation.

3 Likes
8

Three sentences in a row that each begin with “I don’t do…” sounds awfully one-sided and stubborn, and makes you come across as an ass.

3 Likes
9

Shucks now I have to google the text of business letters.

10

I already have one that’s a classic.

907×1360 36.5 KB

10 Likes
11

I get the joke. But once you reach the point where you value time far more than you do money that goes out the window. It’s one of the reasons I also don’t do meetings without an agenda.

2 Likes
12

“Just want to be upfront.
I don’t do non-transactional meetings. I don’t do meetings without a strict agenda. I don’t do meetings unless we absolutely have to.”

Be prepared to defend yourself against “not being a team player” in your next performance review.

All you have to do is say “Is this something we can do over email? I’m a little swamped” and you don’t sound like a dick.

6 Likes
13

In Japan, we don’t say no. We just say, “That would be rather difficult…”

That said, I think that it’s better to offer alternatives for what you can do rather than going into the nitty-gritty of why you can’t or won’t do something.

4 Likes
14

I understand your point, but since you are committing to attending the meeting ie

I’m here to make sure you don’t…

I would chalk this up to a sub-category under process, namely to ensure that the destructive path is not taken.

1 Like
15

I’m saying no right now.

3 Likes
16

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.