Engineers, Avoid Saying “No” And Start Asking “How”

“No.” how many times a day do you say this, and why do you say it in the first place? Is it because of laziness, don’t know how to do the task, or a lack of spare time. Actually, there is almost always a better solution than just plainly saying no.

Source: The Balance

You don’t always have to say yes to everything either. But, the next time someone requests your help on something, trying asking them “How?” instead of giving them the impression that you don’t care, or you are not helpful. This will demonstrate your willingness to try as well as look for other solutions to help someone with their task.

This simple gesture improves effective communication in any relationship, either personal or professional as the sentence “How?” creates opportunities in contrast to “no” that ends them.

Get out of your way

More often than not, even we ourselves, get in the way when we are connecting with others. We tend to forget about empathy, gratitude as well as accountability and limit our own potential. An example of this is when we automatically dismiss a person’s question with “no” without thinking. So the next time you are about to say no, try asking “how?” instead, and observe the response you will get. There are many solutions to a problem that could come out, that could help the person who asked for your help, and it could end up with your interaction being more positive.

Creating possibilities

Let’s say a colleague of yours asks for your help to finish a certain task that he needs to finish within the day. Instead of quickly dismissing his/her request with an automatic “no”, ask “how?” This will open a conversation, and your colleague will start thinking about the steps that are necessary to accomplish his goal. You will also be able to understand your colleagues predicament more, and it could give you ideas on how he could finish his work easier without you needing to help that much. You could teach him/her an efficient shortcut, that would cut his/her crunch time in half, or you could maybe suggest another person whom you think can help your colleague better.  

Source: ehstoday

It Works

When you always say no, you are denying yourself of tackling challenges and testing your potential. This is why when people ask for help, we should ask “how can we do it?”. If you want to tackle the problem, then go ahead and give your 100%. On the other hand, if you are too swamped at work, or can’t handle the situation at the mean time, don’t dismiss their request with an immediate “no”, ask “how?” and think of suggestions that could help that person even if you won’t be there to completely help them. This will also help strengthen your connection with your workmates.

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