The Best System For Handling Team Objections

Most leaders have shared an idea with their team and gotten reflexive objections. This is a system to overcoming those objections--and making your team part of the solution.

If you’ve managed a team for any period of time, you’ve probably heard some version of the phrase: “it can’t be done,” in response to a suggestion, strategic shift or direction you’ve given.

This is a common impasse in leadership. Often, teams get stuck on the tactical hamster wheel and are too busy to see the strategic changes that are necessary, and that often make life easier in the long run. And few leaders want to be like the parent who says “do it because I said so.”

One of the best ways I’ve found to overcome a team’s objections—and help them see the potential of new ideas—involves making a Whys and Solutions Chart. Essentially, this is an exercise where you surface several reasons why the team feels like something cannot be done, then you work together to identify the solution to each one.

As an example, imagine a leader tells their team they will need to take on an additional 20 percent client load to support the economics of the business, without adding additional headcount.

It’s very likely that the leader’s team will say that they can’t take on the additional business. In response, the leader should ask them to come up with Five Whys: the five biggest reasons why it won’t work.

In response, the team might offer the following whys:

• We already have too many client calls.

• Our teams are at full capacity and can’t take on more work.

• People won’t want to do more work for the same money.

• Our relationships with our existing clients would be strained.

• More clients would mean more risk of errors and oversights.

Once these reasons have been raised, next comes the fun part—the team brainstorms potential solutions for each of the whys above. Here’s what that list might look like: