Disagreeing at management level- How to successfully swim against the stream

It is not always easy to express a dissenting view if you are part of a management team. The group think cognitive bias programmes us to default to the majority view. However, if you believe that the majority view is wrong it would be irresponsible for you to not speak your mind. There is an art to being the dissenting view that allows you to express your opinion without creating lasting interpersonal conflict and ensuring that your views are not dismissed outright. Even if your opinion is received negatively in the short run, a decision formed out of a diversity of opinions usually leads to a better outcome.

So, if you are planning to swim against the stream, you need to learn the art of persuasive engagement:

• Validate the other persons views: When you find yourself disagreeing with a colleague, listen carefully to what they have to say. If you acknowledge their opinion even if you disagree, the disagreement will remain amicable. Validating other people’s views keep disagreements civil and engender reciprocity. If you listen to their views, they are more inclined to listen to yours.
• Focus on the issue and not the person: Learn to phrase your responses in a neutral manner by avoiding emotional responses. Focus on the facts that your opponent is expressing rather than the emotion. This keeps disagreements impersonal.
• Avoid absolute statements: To keep the conversation at a professional level, qualify your statement, phrase them as opinions underpinned by evidence or experience rather that the absolute truth. If you state your opinions as absolutes without providing your colleague space to question your views, you will alienate them.
• Express what you bring to the table: If you establish that you have the knowledge, experience and skills that underpin your opinion it will carry more weight. That is if you can get this message across without sounding pompous and arrogant.
• Keep group interest at heart: You need to make everyone understand that your views are based on what you believe is the best long-term benefits for the group. If you recognize potential negative short-term consequences from ideas being proposed, address them from the prospect of their potential impact of long-term success. The goal is to improve trust and evoke curiosity, not fear and distrust. Doing this will result on the focus being placed on the message rather than the messenger.
• Take time out if the conversation stops being productive: If a conversation becomes a heated debate people stop listening to each other. If this happens, simply call “time out” take a break and reconvene when everyone has had a time to cool down.
• Find common ground: Disagreement is good. It should be seen as an opportunity to elicit different perspectives. To ensure disagreement results in a constructive outcome identify issues where there is already consensus rather than getting stuck on the points of disagreement i.e., find the common ground. Next focus on expanding the common ground until you reach a consensus. If this is impossible it is time to as a colleague to act as a mediator on points of disagreement allowing all to reach a conclusion.

By: Dr Gustaaf Wolvaardt