In the Creative process and production course, you learned some principles to help you prioritize new design requests.
How do you handle requests that aren’t a priority? Saying no isn’t always easy. Share tips and tricks with your peers about the best way to handle requests that your team has to add to the backlog.
In my experience, I have communicated with the requestor letting them know when I will be able to complete the task or project. If it is a request for me specifically to complete, I check to see if I can pass the task to someone else or outsource the task/project.
For us it’s mainly about team bandwidth and how the request aligns with organizational strategic goals. We try not to say ‘no’ flat out, but more along the lines of at this particular time we just don’t have the bandwidth since we are working diligently on completing projects that are directly aligned with A, B, and C strategic goals. If you are willing to put off your project we can definitely revisit it in 3, 6, or 12 months depending on what the request is.
Granted, we are in research rather than marketing but I think it can still apply. Also if you are working on larger projects (organizationally) that still benefit those clients you can reinforce that you are already doing things to support those clients in some way.
Katie
I am very honest with the person making the request. If there aren’t manpower resources, I will tell them and what the team is working on. I show them the timeline and let them know that while we currently cannot handle their request, we will be able to in the future, and then will assign the project with a date later than what they are expecting. This way, expectations are managed and the lines of communication are kept open.
@Nick_Nixon It sounds like transparency is a key pillar of your approach. This is fantastic to hear because Asana is built to help organizations establish open channels of communication. By housing your work in Asana, everyone can see what work is already on your team’s plate. To read more about how to build transparency within your organization, check out this article.
As most people have written here, we also aim to not tell people “no” flat out. My team exists to support and enable the work of other teams with creatives, so it’s really important to us that everyone we’re working with feels excited about collaborating with us. We often try to see if a low priority request can be combined with something that we are prioritising. Say we got a request for an employer branding video, which may not be a priority, but we are exploring new ideas for our YouTube channel, then we would try to see if there’s a way to combine the two that makes sense for both.
In general, I don’t particularly like postponing a project for a few months, usually for us that means that we end up with a long backlog or hold queue, and I don’t want to have to keep going back to whoever requested a creative and postpone it over and over. Therefore, if we can’t combine a low priority item with something we’ve already committed to producing, I would reject the request in a kind way, knowing that if it is still relevant in a few months time, the team will get back to us.
Most often things will have changed though 
I believe saying no should be the last option but still remain an option. Before saying no, you can provide the requester with how the intake process works and how should they funnel their requests in the future to insure incorporation in roadmap.
Also such requests can be assessed for effort and duration and based on that:
The above approach will be more professional and will ensure less conflicts and continuous intake process improvement.
Our methodology is never to say no, but rather facilitate a conversation with a mental model such as the “urgent & important” quadrant to determine the life of a request. This manages the expectations and relationship really well and creates good company culture. We have created a custom field in Asana with these fields to avoid bottlenecks around communication.
for us we always say there are a lot of time for any task
and usually our CEO and Directors determine which request we should give it our priority
BR
I will offer a number of viable but realistic options. As many as possible of them. Stakeholders should be always our highest priority. Then, it is a matter of skills how to resolve the problem. Indeed, work without priorities cannot be efficient. This contradiction can be resolved in a number of ways. Attracting external contractor or looking to scale up resources. Perhaps within this small strings of requirements lies huge perspective stream of work. But if the job cannot be done well then apologizing and explaining that it is cannot be fulfilled is better option.
I like to begin by asking the requestor how they feel the request contributes to the business goals, with a request that they re-think their request until an affirmative answer is delivered. This is a solid way to set a cultural tone and ensure efficient and effective allocation of time and resources.
Sometimes I do have to say no, even after offering alternate time frames. In these cases, I like to offer up some helpful tips about when to submit projects in the future (lead-up time to ensure it is complete before a deadline), or to offer a scaled-down version for a rush fee, that way they can still have something produced, even if it is not the original idea.
I start out by asking how does their request contribute to the overall yearly goal and where does it fit into the quarterly goals. Depending on their answer determines the alternate options I provide. For example, option 1: a time frame when we can start the project, which is usually within 3-4 months. Option 2: Outsourcing the project completely. Option 3: Allowing our interns to start with some of the similar tasks until a more senior team member can join in.
I normally ask what is driving the deadline, how their request fit with the business strategic priorities and if there is budget to start the project.
En mi experiencia, intento establecer comunicación con el responsable de la solicitud lo más pronto posible, para hacerle saber que el equipo creativo trabaja en otros proyectos. Me comprometo a analizar las fechas en que tendría mayor viabilidad el proyecto y le hago saber los riesgos que implicaría aceptar su solicitud, como un tiempo de producción más lento o retrasos inesperados.
Pienso tambien que no es buena idea poner una lista de espera demasiado larga ya que en algún momento estaríamos nuevamente en una situación similar a la de origen y puede causar conflictos en los equipos de trabajo.
I like to find out exactly what the outcome will be and what kind of value it provides, that way I can decide if something is a priority.
That request may end up having outcomes for your company that you didn’t expect (in good or bad ways).
No is a full sentence.
Never say no, but ask for other options