As the leader of a company, it’s natural to expect your employees to trust your decision making and follow through with your plans, but entrepreneurs need to be open to implementing ideas that conflict with their original agenda. Being able to do so can save the company time, resources, and money.
Entrepreneurs have developed a reputation of being some stubborn people. They tend to have a vision for all of the features of their product or service and won’t give an edge on any changes. In the game of entrepreneurship, stubbornness can be a weakness. You need to be prepared to hear out employees who are willing to voice their disagreements with your ideas.
Employees who disagree with you are great to have on your team for many reasons. First, they bring a fresh perspective to the table. Sometimes you can overlook minor details of your project and an employee might be able to catch it and suggest a solution. Second, they promote compromise. Building an environment that promotes compromise will provide a better product or service for the customer. None of this can happen in an environment where disagreements aren’t welcomed. To create an atmosphere that supports healthy conflict, you need a few things.
Hire experts.
While it’s awesome to have your employees voicing their disagreements with you, not all disagreements are going to be effective. For bigger discussions that may have a lot of emotion tied to them, hire an expert facilitator who will have worthy insights to share and may even teach your team how to handle the tougher stuff down the road.
Ask for opinions.
Your employees are much more likely to express their opinions if you ask them for their feedback. First and foremost, don’t be afraid of a different opinion. You don’t want everyone on your team to have the same opinion! That’s how companies get stagnant. Have a growth and beginner mindset and you’ll ensure you, and your team, keep growing and learning.
Reject ideas softly.
As I already stated, not all disagreements are going to be good ideas. If there are any negative consequences involved for the person who pitched the disagreement, such as berating or embarrassment, your employees will be hesitant to voice their opinions in the future.
Employees that disagree with you aren’t always a bad thing. There’s definitely a respectful, and a not so respectful way, to disagree. If you are looking to create an environment that promotes trust, honesty, and compromise, an employee with a contradicting opinion will assist by bringing fresh perspectives to the table.
I’d love to hear from you and what you think about having employees who disagree with you!
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.