How to say NO without saying NO...

How to say NO without saying NO...

As a Product manager the most important advise I have recieved has been to able to master the skill to say NO to incoming requests which don't align to the product roadmap. Even though I have understood that it is a very important skill, but I have always struggled to find the right way of doing it. Especially when the new requests are coming from a Top management or one of the key stakeholders of your product. The main challenge I want to solve in this version of productbell is to find the balance of being graceful enough to say NO but also not offending the person.

If Product Managers don't have the capability to say NO then this is exactly what happens. #humor

After some research and discussions with my mentors I came across a few of the below techniques to implement when any new requests comes along :

  1. Replace the word NO with followup questions : The primary goal as Product Managers whenever someone walks up to us with new product ideas or features is to create a structure of questions where the answers are just not yes/no but reasonings for the request.
  2. Start with these questions

Why do you think this is a good feature ?
Do you have any preliminary resarch on this or data to back this up?
What are you trying to accomplish here or what are the main problems you are trying to solve here ?
What is the impact you are trying to create with this ?
How are you confident that the users will be using it on a regular-basis ?
If it s a paying feature, who is the intended audience ? Is there an intent to pay?

3. Bring them along with you on the journey : Once you get the above answers & evaluate if the request aligns with your product roadmap then request them to review the roadmap together with you. Let them know the existing items in the prioritised backlog. Ask them if you could do some competitive analysis together or look at how the feature will impact the metrics.

4. Once they have been able to go through the above processes let them help to take the decision with you. If they can come to the conclusion for you then it is a win-win for everyone. But, more often than not they will still push for it and then you have to play the Product manager's trump card - " I will put it in the Product Backlog."


Hope these steps helps a bit for you to make the journey a bit easier.

Keep building awesome products...

Anupam Anand

IT Product Owner | Service Delivery Manager

2 年

Hey Subhodip! Long time :) Let me start by saying that this is quite an interesting topic, and a very engaging one too. I understand the theme of the post, you ideally want to make them heard and be transparent about the product. My 2 cents here - while I acknowledge this is a great way to initiate bringing the person on the same page as you, there are a some things which I think make a great impact. For example, the tone. A great technique would be to ensure that when saying no, they refrain from using strong words/phrases."It's just not worth it!", for example, would probably not be the right way to go about it. Moreover, I think it is not just about proving a point, but should rather be an informative, engaging exchange (and one where you probably will have to explain a lot, but that's okay, because you have the clear vision of the product), while also setting the expectations right.

Srinivas (Sri) Perumbuduru

Co-Founder @ GitView | Software Engineering Intelligence(SEI) platform

2 年

Also remember to not fall in the trap of ALWAYS saying NO. As you rightly mentioned, first ask relevant questions. It actually might help you rethink product strategy and correct course.

Rahul Ratnakaran

Technical Product Owner @ Boeing | Global Certificate in Product Management

2 年

A must have skill for any PM. Subhodip Banerjee A good read

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Ishita Mehta

Product/Project Manager at Raftlabs | Empowering teams with a culture of active listening and collaboration.

2 年

This is a great read. It's crazy but recently I was thinking about this topic itself..how should we say no when it comes to certain requests. Thanks for sharing this

Shivani Mukherjee

Fintech advisor | Australian Global Talent Visa(PR) | ex-Thought Machine, Rapyd, Grab| Core banking, Open banking & payments | All things Fintech

2 年

Well captured points !

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