You’re a programmer who disagrees with your team lead. How can you resolve the conflict?

Conflicts usually comes within a team, and sometimes between the experienced and inexperienced. Find the facts by obtaining the root cause of the issue, that causes opinion differences. Make the inferences indicating the logic, that supporting the analogy. Call for a discussion, so that communication happens and makes a good growing environment.

In my opinion, fostering open communication and mutual respect within the team is crucial for productive discussions. However, before voicing your opinion, make sure that you completely understand the problem and are not confused. A good approach before presenting your ideas to the lead would be through conclusive evidence and structured information, for example, through a presentation. To promote collaboration, focus on solving the problem, ultimately driving the team towards success.

In my opinion, approaching the discussion with a mindset of curiosity and openness can also be beneficial. Being willing to listen to your team lead's perspective and considering their reasoning can lead to a more nuanced understanding of the issue. This collaborative approach fosters a culture of trust and encourages mutual learning within the team, strengthening relationships and improving decision-making processes.

Before discussing a crucial issue, one should check for the perfect timing according to the working pattern of the team lead, whether pre-occupied or not. Since, it is the discussion that could make the issue resolving and make qualitative, its better to block the calendar in advance.

The better we communicate the issue with proper examples to the listener, it would be appreciable to understand. Don't intervene your concerns in middle of the speech of Team Lead, allow them to complete their perspective in terms of words. Post listening to the perspective, add your concerns apart from the points of initial discussion. Arrive a conclusion by summarizing the MOM and communicate them to team, so that entire team couldn't face similar issues further.

Prepare clear and concise talking points for the discussion with your team lead. Pinpoint the code fractions of concerns to discuss. Also, remember to make notes of the clarifications provided by the lead. Ask questions, if their point of view is unclear to you. Moreover, incorporating empathy into your communication approach can greatly enhance conflict resolution efforts.

Start with understanding if the two proposed solutions are not mutually exclusive. A compromise might not even be possible. Lay out the pros and cons of each solution. Ask for other people's opinions: teammates, senior engineers, the CTO. Most importantly, don't forget that you're doing this for the benefit of the project and not to keep your ego happy.

In my perspective, disagreements tends to happen within a team but try to bring up the scenario or topic (which in disagreement) to discussion. Open communication always help to resolve disputes in much better fashion. Also be respectful of each other's ideas after all discussions opens up new door to innovations. To further avoid disputes, often seek feedback and ask clarifying questions. Be open for constructive criticism. Regular 1:1's can also help to better build teamwork.