Is it best left unsaid? How to choose your workplace battles
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Learning which workplace battles are worth the fight requires consideration of the big picture.
Experts tell the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) that avoiding the fight may be best in these situations: You don’t have a solution to the problem, the issue isn’t important to your employer or your ability to do your job, the issue is outside your purview, or you are battling a person who has a lot more power than you.
If the problem is worth the confrontation, experts offer these suggestions: Plan how you will discuss the problem, keep your emotions in check, figure out how to deal with complaints about your role in the problem, and make sure the person you speak with has the power to change things.
The article offers an example of two entrepreneurs who decided to deal with workplace tension. Bill Hendricks and Charles Logston, co-founders of Common Form Inc., were at odds early this year over the release date for a new app to file federal tax forms. After weeks of tension, they confronted each other and agreed on a compromise date.
Hendricks and Logston told the Wall Street Journal they should have dealt with the issue sooner. “It only becomes harder to deal with, the longer you wait,” Hendricks said.
