How to Push Back Better

What is pushing back and why do we do it?

If you?push back?against something, such as a change or criticism, you refuse to accept it or try to prevent it. We can push back for several reasons.?

• Self-preservation.?Often we view a change as a threat to our place of comfort. Changing the way we already know how to do something can be scary. What if we can't do it the new way? What happens to me?
• Assert the image of control.?We want to feel in control of our choices, so pushing back can often be to keep control over some parts of what we have to do.?
• Lack of trust or credibility.?We push back when we don't know, trust or understand the "why" behind the change. Maybe we don't trust the communicator to know what's best for us.

After reading this, think of a time when you've pushed back recently. What was the underlying reason you pushed back?

Pushing back against change is a natural human reaction?and preparing for how to push back, or preparing to receive push back from others, is a necessary leadership skill. So how do we do it better?

Impacts of pushing back effectively (and not so effectively)

Push back too little, and you may end up with a huge pile of work and a burned-out team.?

Push back too much and you might not be viewed as a "team player".

The key is to find balance in the push back.

Effective push back should generate creative and productive conversations. This could?lead to producing a more collaborative change that works better for everyone. Front line employees and leaders are closest to our customers and can often be great information sources to inform strategic decisions. As a front-line human, learning effective ways to push back will be an important skill in ensuring your voice is heard. As a leader, learning effective tools to listen and consider pushback is equally important. Building this relationship between the two parties will create more trust, and ultimately, better solutions.?

Conversely, ineffective methods of push back can be seen as combative, or whiny. This can come across and being defiant to change, and unwillingness to try new things. When using this approach to push back, you'll be climbing a very steep hill to get your point of view heard. You may feel threatened or upset with a change?but?consider how others will perceive what you're saying (better yet, put yourself in their shoes), and reflect on ways you can get your point across in a way that is objective and clear.?

Tips for pushing back and being heard

1. Build credibility.?Show that you are an effective worker and learn to do your own job well. This will help you build knowledge of the people and processes, and build respect and credibility when you do push back.?
2. Be Agreeable.?Not everything is worth pushing back on, so pick your battles. Take some things on that help others around you that don't require much effort to show you're committed to being part of a team. This shows that you care about others and success of the team, and that you're dependable.?
3. Keep emotions in check.?This is a tough one. It can be easy to immediately react rashly when hearing you're getting more work or something is changing that you don't like. Step back, take a breath and think it through before you immediately start pushing back. A tip for this: before saying no, say "let me think on this and get back to you" or "can you provide more information <insert something specific you want to know about>".?
4. Back your position.?What are you pushing back on, and what's the impact on you? Be able to provide reasons, data, background to support what you're pushing back on. Less anecdotal, more solid information. Saying "we've done that before and it didn't work" will get shut down every. single. time. Get your supporting information together before you decide to throw your weight into pushing back.
5. Speak for yourself.?You may feel inclined to immediately bring up how others might experience the changes, but start by focusing on the impact to you, not others that aren't in the conversation or haven't had a chance to weigh in personally. This gives your pushback more power?and prevents you from assuming how others will react to the change. This doesn't mean that you can't stick up for your team if you disagree with the change, this just means to make sure you have it right before you weigh in.
6. Be persistent.?If you're pushing back on something you feel strongly about, stay on top of it. Otherwise, it just comes across as complaining about the change but eventually doing the work anyway. You lose credibility when you do this. But keeping this tip in mind will help you pick the right things to put your weight behind when it comes to pushing back. If you know you'll eventually do the change, then consider if it's worth putting in the effort to push back.?

Tips for dealing with pushback

Receiving pushback will always be part of being a leader. This is a key skill to develop in order to be a trusted and effective leader. Your role in delivering information is ensuring the recipients understand the bigger picture and what the impact is. It can be difficult to think bigger than yourself when you hear about a new change, so take the time to share this with your team so they can get behind the change personally and for the organization.

1. Be aware of and develop emotional intelligence.?Good leaders are aware of how their team may react to change?and can prepare talking points accordingly. Be self-aware and work to understand the impact on your team prior to sharing a change.?
2. Listen.?This is crucial. Listening intently to your team to see if they are just hesitant to change or if valid points are arising that need to be addressed. Listen from a place of curiosity, not from a place of having to defend the change you are sharing.?
3. Encourage engagement. Ask specific questions of your team to hear their thoughts and feedback. "What do you think?" is too general. Instead, try a question like "What is the impact of this change on your?workload - or the customer impact?" Really, really listen to the answers you get. Also, try asking questions you might not know the answer to, you may be surprised by what you learn.
4. Invest time and money in documentation, communication and training.?That's it, that's the tip.?
5. Accept that sometimes you just gotta enforce the change.?Maybe it's a compliance change that has to occur, but sharing the change and the risk to employees and the organization if we don't change is key to helping enforce the change. Design accountability, expectations, and performance objectives to help enforce the change.

Why did I share tips for both sides of pushback? Because the only way forward is together. When we learn how to productively disagree, collaborate, and compromise effectively, we build the trust and foundation to work together for real, meaningful change.