How to Say No to Your Boss

Saying “no” to a request can be a difficult thing, especially when the person making the request is your boss.1.The following steps are helpful.

Give yourself some time to think about the request before saying “no”.

If the request arrives via email, don’t reply right away.

2.If your boss asks you in person or on the telephone, request some time to give it thought and tell her you will get back to her by a specific time. Consider the request carefully to determine whether you have to say “no”.

Prepare your answer before telling your boss “no”.

Anticipate questions she might ask in response to your answer, and decide how you want to answer them. Rehearse your conversation with your boss out loud to help build your confidence before the real conversation.

Choose the right time and place to speak with your boss.

Have the conversation in private if your work situation allows you to get a moment alone with your boss. Keep in mind your boss’s workday pressures and work style. If she is a morning person and gets grumpy(脾气暴躁的)in the afternoon, be sure to speak with her before lunch.

3.

If your boss is asking you to take on more responsibility, that shows that she has faith in your ability to do the job. Acknowledge that it means a lot to you before telling her that you feel you cannot do it.

Tell your boss why you have to say “no” to the request.

4.Your boss will be grateful that you answered honestly, rather than trying to take on a project you cannot handle.

Offer an alternative solution.

For example, if your boss asks you to serve on a committee, suggest someone else in the company that you think may be interested and capable of serving.5.

A. Pay your boss a compliment while denying her request.

B. Even if you try your best to do everything the boss lets you do, there are times when you can’t do and have to say “no”.

C. Put yourself in your boss’s shoes and consider how the company will be affected if you refuse the request.

D. Maybe you could offer to share the workload with someone else.

E. Most employers respect honesty in their employees.

F. Try a compromise.

G. Set the request aside and think about it for a while.

This past Christmas season, I went to visit my parents. During the visit, I found the letters written by my parents to each other during the war in the attic (阁楼). The letters were piled high, dirty and had not been touched for decades. I asked mother and father if I could take the letters back to my home. They agreed.

As I opened each letter, all of them beautiful with age, I discovered a new page in this private part of my parents' lives. My father served in the army. His letters were full of frontline (前线) descriptions, and they continued all the way through the battle. Each of my mother's letters was sealed (密封) with her lipstick kiss. Father wrote that he sealed his return letters by rekissing her lipstick kiss. How they had been missing each other! I finished reading six months of the letters and discovered there were at least eleven months missing. Maybe they were lost forever.

Not long after our Christmas visit, Father became very ill and was in hospital. I went to the hospital to see him. As I sat by his bedside, he told me how much receiving those lipstick-kissed letters had meant to him when he had been so far from home.

Later that evening, Mother and I revisited the attic in search of the lost letters. Finally we dug them out of Mother’s old college trunk (皮箱). The next day was Valentine’s Day, and we went to the hospital. At my father's bedside, I showed him an old envelope. His curiosity was aroused. When he carefully opened the letter, he recognized it and his eyes were filled with tears. He read the love messages that had been delivered years before to my mother in a quavery (颤抖的) voice. This Valentine’s Day, we were lucky that we had everything.

1.Where did the writer find the missing letters?

A. In the hospital. B. At her father's bedside.

C. In a trunk. D. In her own house.

2.How did the writer’s father feel when he saw the letter?

A. Curious. B. Touched.

C. Regretful. D. Interested.

3.What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Christmas Gift B. My Parents

C. Love letters D. The Good Old Days

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网