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Description

Saying No: Setting Boundaries, Declining Requests and Protecting the Relationship

Two days to decline a request without ten minutes of justification or apologising for existing

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

A request lands at the end of the day, it falls outside your remit and your workload is already full. You accept anyway, for fear of conflict or of being judged. Acceptances pile up, deadlines you once controlled become deadlines imposed on you, and the frustration eventually surfaces at the worst possible moment.

These 14 hours treat declining as a professional skill. Participants learn to recognise what pushes them to say yes automatically, to separate declining a request from rejecting a person, to formulate a clear no with an alternative where one exists, and to hold their position under pressure. The situations rehearsed are drawn from the participants' own day-to-day work.

Learning objectives

  • Identify the situations in which you agree against your own professional interest
  • Separate declining a request from rejecting the person making it
  • Formulate a refusal in one clear sentence without excessive justification
  • Offer an alternative or a trade-off when the context allows
  • Hold your position when faced with repeated insistence
  • Negotiate a deadline or a scope rather than absorbing an imposed workload

What makes this programme different

The situations rehearsed are brought by the participants rather than taken from a generic catalogue
Dedicated practice in resisting three distinct forms of insistence
A personal refusal formulation developed and tested in front of the group

Programme

1Understanding your automatic acceptances

What happens before the yes

  • Spotting requests you accepted and later regretted
  • Identifying the fears that trigger immediate agreement
  • Distinguishing between helping out and absorbing a burden
  • Assessing the real cost of a yes on your workload

2Clarifying your limits

Scope, priorities and room for manoeuvre

  • Defining your remit and your real priorities
  • Identifying which requests are negotiable and which are not
  • Preparing a rationale based on shared priorities
  • Choosing the right moment and the right channel to respond

3Formulating the refusal

A clear sentence and an alternative

  • Structure of a short and easily understood refusal
  • Removing the justifications that invite further negotiation
  • Offering an alternative, a revised deadline or a trade-off
  • Declining a request from a senior manager

4Holding firm under insistence

Pressure, guilt and the request that comes back

  • Responding to insistence through calm repetition of the refusal
  • Handling remarks designed to induce guilt
  • Managing the request that resurfaces a few days later
  • Protecting the working relationship after a refusal

Who is it for

Any professional facing a high volume of requests, as well as managers, administrative support staff and project officers working under sustained demand.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.