Office arguments - is it all about culture?

pitchfork

pitchfork

pitchfork

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Whats your take on the good old argument at work?

I've worked for lots of places before where arguing a point passionately and with embellishment is the done thing. Only after being pushed so far you understand, usually halfway through a meeting when someone is either being intentionally dense or trying to cut you down to make their own projects look more successful.

But recently I've started to work for a service based company - there's a lot more women and london commuters in the office (not really ever seen either in great numbers at work before) and a hell of a lot more bureaucracy which is resulting in loads of arguments.

And people are getting all offended over it, like it's fundamentally wrong to disagree with each other and argue a point, or it's all personal.

I'm after your views on it, if someone is completely disregarding what you say, is it ok to raise your voice and give them an honest view?
 
It's not OK to shout someone down, call them an idiot and tell them they're stupid, if that's what you're asking.

But defending yourself or arguing against a bad decision; I'd say that's always OK as long as you can back up what you're saying with experience/evidence/stats, and that you know your audience enough to know that they are receptive to the discussion (I mean, there's no point wasting time arguing with a stubborn co-worker who won't change their mind - take it over their head if you think a mistake is being made).
 
pitchfork said:
I'm after your views on it, if someone is completely disregarding what you say, is it ok to raise your voice and give them an honest view?
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Do you mean to speak up at all, or actually raising your voice to argue?

There should be nothing wrong with expressing reasoned points and challenges if this is done in a civil and professional fashion. Mind you, I've known a few people who seem oblivious to their own behaviour in the workplace...

GD answer: Stand and bang.
 
AJK said:
It's not OK to shout someone down, call them an idiot and tell them they're stupid, if that's what you're asking.

But defending yourself or arguing against a bad decision; I'd say that's always OK as long as you can back up what you're saying with experience/evidence/stats, and that you know your audience enough to know that they are receptive to the discussion (I mean, there's no point wasting time arguing with a stubborn co-worker who won't change their mind - take it over their head if you think a mistake is being made).
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Pretty much this to be honest, some people will sometimes argue a point for the sake of arguing it, if you know they're being belligerent on purpose then take it over their head.
 
Argue the point, fine, raise your voice or use fancy pants "debate techniques" and expect a fast fist in the kidneys, away from the cctv.
 
I wouldn't use the term arguments but professional disagreements are common in my place of work (as they should be really).

Some people in the business are a little reserved for the kind of vigour required to debate a point, but it's all part & parcel of communication in which compromise/keeping the peace isn't he priority (as you have a clear objective & objective facts to contend with).

Personally I've always thought that people who spend a long time on forums debating will be vastly more experienced at discussion at work, essentially we are perfecting our debating methods on here (well... sometimes :p).
 
Without sounding completely sexist, it's women. Our place is big offices and got to be 65% women over 40, and if they aren't moaning about the temperature being not at their desired level and guarding windows they don't like opened, they are usually moaning about each other. They also don't like being educated when they are wrong about something.
 
If I disagree with something I will speak up and put my point across politely, if people ignore or disagree then fair enough at least they've had the chance to think about other options.

Luckily most of the people I work with are open to other peoples views .
 
I speak up if I disagree. Always. As my line manager is a ****ing retard who thinks he's made it being a team lead, yet has no skills whatsoever. It's all about how you deliver your side of your "argument" or point of view.
 
If I disagree with a colleague over an issue worth the stress and aggravation, I'll speak up. If it's something relatively inconsequential I'll ignore it. I pride myself on not being a known giver of ****s.
 
I wouldn't raise my voice at work as that's a really quick way for people to dismiss you, but I would quite often explain why I thought something was a terrible idea and do some quick fag packet ROI figures to back the claim up. I was ignored quite a lot, proved right in the majority of the cases and resigned soon after.

The director was a big fan of calling meetings to discuss changes which was just a thinly veiled disguise for saying 'this is what's happening, isn't it great hey why isn't everyone on board?'. It was a very difficult environment to make any progress. Treading water was seen as a bit revolutionary, they org much preferred to sit still and be overtaken by others.
 
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Objections and disagreements should be encouraged, otherwise you'll experience a phenomenon know as Groupthink.

However there's a wrong and right way to go about this. Raising your voice, finger-pointing, defensive behaviour are all to be avoided. Listening, constructive criticism and encouragement are to be promoted.
 
Depends on the culture a lot.

Over here its fine to debate with much more senior staff, but of course shouting is bad practise.
 
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