Agree to disagree?

An often heard phrase at work is ‘Agree to disagree’. It is coined many a times in meetings where a consensus on an issue is not reached.

Some reasons when people use it are paucity of time, taking a decision and moving ahead, using veto power or authority, surrendering to hierarchy etc.

What is important is to acknowledge and understand the feeling or attitude which one is left with after such agreement to disagree and move forward.

The ability to control the reactive process after a decision has been made can help the person adopt an attitude of willingness and help the team accomplish the goal.

With the right attitude, the feelings of resentment, not being valued, blaming the superior or other team members etc. can be done away with and help build a culture of engagement and openness.

Coaching creates a space for people where they can voice out these feelings. With contextual questions to achieve the desired goal, this blocked energy is redirected to how one can achieve the desired goal.

Then one can completely say that I agree to disagree with willingness to work as a team.