How do you handle team members who ask for too many resources?

Our reader poll today asks: How do you handle team members who ask for too many resources?

• I tell them “we’ll see” so I don’t have to say “no” 4.40%
• I say “no” directly and explain why 35.12%
• I tell them what conditions they have to meet to earn those resources 60.48%
• I ignore the request and hope it goes away 0.00% 

Conditional approval before “no.” The vast majority of respondents shared that they place conditions on getting resources. Doing so lets your team member know what they can do (if anything) to secure the resources they need. And if they have no control over the situation, it lets them know what conditions have to occur before resources will be released. For example, that might sound like “if we reach our sales goal this quarter, we’ll fund your technology investment request next quarter.” Conditional approval can use the phrase “yes, if…” This means telling someone “yes, you can have funding for the technology investment if you can come in under budget on the other project you’re currently working on.” This gives them control over the situation or it has them be the one to say “no” to themselves if they’re not able to fulfill the conditions for moving forward.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.