9 things you should never be afraid to say no to at work

Sebastiaan ter Burg/Flickr/Attribution License

• Saying "no" at work is sometimes necessary. The key is knowing when to push back.
• Rejecting requests is a balancing act — you'll need to weigh your current workload and team goals against the needs and wants of others.
• Some factors to consider include the amount of work or effort that would be required, your values and time commitments, and the deadline.

For my first job out of college, I worked as a writer at a financial startup in downtown San Francisco. It was one of those offices that had an open floor plan, catered lunches, unlimited paid time off ... and sky-high expectations.

Everyone seemed to be working on interesting side projects, helping out their coworkers, leading team meetings, and brainstorming hackathon projects every day. It was inspiring to see people who were so engaged with their work. So like Shonda Rhimes, I decided to suppress my introverted tendencies to have a "year of yes."

But juggling the needs and wants of my boss, my team, my coworkers, and the company alongside my own was exhausting. At a certain point, something had to give, and I had to learn to say "no." The key was figuring out when to push back.

Here are nine things it's totally reasonable to say "no" to at work:

1. Ineffective tasks

Former IBM executive and bestselling author Catherine DeVrye wrote in her book that "we have always done it that way" are the "seven most expensive words in business." But the cost of ineffective assignments doesn't just apply to your company's bottom line. It impacts your work, too.

2. Things that don't clearly contribute to your goals and responsibilities

You deserve to know what is expected of you and what you're working toward — something I didn't always do at my first job.

3. Unnecessary meetings

A survey by the Harvard Business Review found that 65% of respondents said meetings kept them from getting work done, and 71% said meetings were "unproductive and inefficient."

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