Professionalism is nothing without passion.
The instincts and experience that make your opinions unique are highly valuable. Balancing them with your colleagues’ ideas empowers the team to find the best solutions for the challenges and opportunities that arise each day.
And when disagreements arise, a productive argument can result in a better outcome for everyone.
Healthy debate has proven an excellent way to develop ideas since at least the time of Plato and Socrates. But it has to be done right, because when those passions lead to raised voices and blaming, progress grinds to a halt. Most of us don’t know how to make a virtue of differing opinions – so it’s no wonder that 71% of senior managers believe meetings are mostly unproductive.
In fact, productive arguing is a professional skill like any other. Being able to argue your point well is important. Use a reasonable voice and body language to ensure your message is heard and considered by the rest of the team. Also, try using statistics and visuals to give your ideas weight.
Just as important is knowing how to listen. Use open questions to learn more about the way the other person sees things. Remember that you’re not here to ‘win,’ but to get the best outcome for the workplace. You may not believe it now, but the other person’s way of seeing things might be the best way forward.
When you embrace the rich diversity of opinions in the office, you’ll be surprised what a positive experience a good argument can be. With this in mind, we’ve created a step-by-step guide on how to have a productive argument at work – from preparing your case to apologizing if you got it wrong.
Avoiding work arguments leads to bottled-up frustrations and makes it hard to truly innovate as a team. Productive arguing is a civilized way to get everybody’s ideas on the table – and work towards a better understanding.
To share this image please use the following embed code:
- Alexander, S. (2014). The Art of Having a Productive Argument. flexjobs.com
- Perrin, C. (2015). How do you handle arguments at work? conceptboard.com
- Schwartz. R. (2015). How to Design an Agenda for an Effective Meeting. hbr.org
- Sloane, P. (2018). How to win Arguments – Dos, Don’ts and Sneaky Tactics. Lifehack.org
- Baer, D. (2014). Here's Proof That Graphs Are Key To Convincing People Of Your Argument. businessinsider.com
- Oxford Royale. (2018). 9 Ways to Construct a Compelling Argument. oxford-royale.co.uk
- Kennedy, R. (2018). How to win an argument at work - or stop one before it starts. ajc.com
- Chou, J. (2015). The Assertive Girl's Guide To Getting What You Want. refinery29.com
- Fincke, D. (2013). The Neuroscience of How Personal Attacks Shut Down Critical Thinking patheos.com
- Steber, C. (2017). 11 Ways To Win Any Argument, No Matter What bustle.com
- Merieb, E. N. & Hoehn, K. (2007). Human Anatomy & Physiology 7th Edition Pearson International Edition
- Hanke, S. (2017). Five Tips To Effectively Interact With Visual Aids forbes.com
- Allan, P. (2015). The Definitive Guide to Winning an Argument lifehacker.com
- Farrell, S. (2016). Open-Ended vs. Closed-Ended Questions in User Research nngroup.com
- Economy, P. (2015). 18 Ways to Send the Right Message With Body Language Inc.com
- Carney, D.J., Cuddy, A.J.C. Yap, A.J. (2010). Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance people.hbs.edu
- Usheroff, R. (2015). Fostering Constructive Disagreement: How To Properly Present An Opposing View remarkableleader.wordpress.com
- Fetterman, A.K., Curtis, S., Carre, J., Sassenberg, K. (2019). On the willingness to admit wrongness: Validation of a new measure and an exploration of its correlates. sciencedirect.com
- Perlow, L.A., Noonan Hadley, C. Eun, E. (2017). Stop the Meeting Madness hbr.org
Fair Use
Want to share this project? Feel free! We just ask that you attribute by linking to this page so your readers can learn more about our research.
