Disagreeing with your boss can be an intimidating part of your work, but there is a way to approach the problem without your disagreement ending in you getting fired. Regardless of the issue at hand, follow these general rules to steer clear of the unemployment office and improve your working relationship with your boss.
Approach Privately
The last thing you or your boss wants is an argument in front of a crowd. Like a Presidential Debate, temperatures will flair and, in the end, neither side will win.
A key element of disagreeing with your boss is to take away the public eye and approach in private. This way, your boss will see his or her authority less challenged and will hopefully listen to the root of the problem, rather than focusing on the crowd.
Polite Language
Wording is everything, when it comes to disagreeing. Make sure to word your thoughts in a positive manner and without making a personal attack.
Through this style of speech, you can focus more on coming to a solution, and less on the fact that there is a problem at hand. In addition, be sure to stay away from blaming and pointing fingers. All this will accomplish is bitterness towards each other that may end in one side lashing out against the other later on down the road.
If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again
Your boss probably has a lot more problems he or she has to deal with than you may realize. Because of this, any suggestions you make might get turned down without much thought. Wait for a little bit and then make the suggestion again. Hopefully, your boss’s schedule has cleared up and he or she can see the problem this time around.
Show, Don’t Tell
Sometimes the only way to convince someone is through cold hard facts. If you disagree with something but your boss isn’t giving your opinion much thought, get to the heart of the issue. This might mean putting in long hours, knowing that you are going to run into a problem, but this might be what it takes. Show your boss exactly where and how you run into this problem so that he or she can see that the current method isn’t working.
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