What to Do If You Disagree With Your Boss in Four Steps
There will be times throughout your career when you disagree with your boss. Some of these disagreements may be minor, such as a dislike for strategy, while others may be more serious, such as the realization that a big project is doomed to fail. What if you disagree with your boss? It depends on the situation, but will inevitably require weighing some options.
Four steps to take if you disagree with your boss
According to Amy Drader , a management consultant at Growth Partner Consulting , there are several important strategies you need to use when you find you disagree with your boss’s decisions. As she explains in a recent article , there are four things you should definitely do if you find yourself having a disagreement with your boss.
First, avoid the fundamental attribution error when we attribute a personality flaw or other behavioral trait to our boss’s decisions, rather than admitting a legitimate context or reason for their actions. They are probably not really evil supervillains trying to destroy lives.
Second, try to consider multiple perspectives, including assessing your boss’s strengths and identifying potential pressure he might face from his boss. This will help you understand what your boss is thinking and why.
As Drader advised in her article , “When your boss makes a decision that you disagree with, take a step back and look at multiple perspectives from different angles. There will certainly be new insights that will affect how you and your team move forward. ”
The third is to focus on the results, not the process, as there are many different ways to successfully complete a project, which include how you can get things done, but can also include how your boss does things. … Just because you don’t like the process does not always mean that the results will not be successful.
Finally, Drader suggests offering help to your boss, as this can be a way to build trust, and also gives you the opportunity to contribute to what you think might be the best strategy for success.
Use these strategies to communicate your concerns to your boss.
If you feel it is imperative to voice your concerns, there are tactful ways to do it.
As Amy Gallo , author of HBR’s Guide to Conflict Management, wrote for the Harvard Business Review , when you think about disagreeing with your boss, it’s important to weigh the risks of speaking rather than being silent.
If silence means the project might fail, that’s bad for everyone, including your boss, and probably worth the risk. You and your boss may not agree on how to get the project done, but you both want it to be successful.
After you decide to talk to your boss, effective strategies for disagreement include understanding their preferred communication style, setting a specific time to express your concerns, finding a way to anticipate the conversation with positive moments, and avoiding blaming anyone.
If you are careful about how you conduct this conversation, and your boss is a reasonable person, chances are good that you can find a solution that works for everyone.