How to Handle a Major Disagreement at Work

Sometimes, no matter the size of your company or your place in it, you disagree with the direction your company is headed, or you think a project is headed for disaster, or you don’t believe in a project you’ve been tasked with, and you must decide how to maneuver through the situation.

You can voice your disagreement or refuse to go with the flow, but you are risking your future with the company. There might be a better way to proceed.

Consider the following four steps when your confronted with a scenario or project that you don’t agree with in your job.

Do your research. It’s certainly possible you are wrong about the direction your business is taking or the project you’ve been asked to lead. Be sure to take your time and do the necessary research to understand how the decision was made to move forward and what it means. Talk to the decision-makers to gather more information. Then use all the data you’ve collected to reach your decision. If you still believe the decision is wrong move on the next step.

State your case. Meet with your supervisor or manager to present your case. Be clear and provide the reasoning behind your decision, including data that supports your opinion. Do not become angry or aggressive but calmly provide your reasoned opinion and move on.

Accept the outcome. Your appeal might be met with silence. Or you might receive some thanks, but your company or manager decides to move ahead with the previous decision. If that is the case, you need to accept the outcome and realize there might be factors influencing the decision that you are unaware of. You don’t need to like the decision or agree with it, but if you are planning to remain at your company you need to accept it without becoming bitter or angry that your opinion was not heeded.

Do your best work. This should go without saying but continue to strive to do your best work. Even if you believe a project is doomed to failure market conditions or customer needs could change and you could help turn a potential disaster into success by doing your best work and applying your skills and expertise to a situation or project that you initially disagreed with.