Helping Employees Shift from Self-Opinionated to Exploring Implications

Some employees are confident in their opinions because they have years of experience and a track record of getting things done. They know what works for them and are comfortable making decisions. However, problems can arise when that confidence makes them less willing to consider other views.

You may hear comments such as, “We’ve always done it this way,” “I know what I’m doing,” or “There’s no need to change.”. These remarks do not automatically mean someone is difficult or unwilling to learn. But when employees repeatedly dismiss suggestions without considering the consequences, their decisions can affect colleagues, customers and the wider team.

A useful coaching approach is to help employees look beyond their own opinions and consider what their decisions could mean for others.

Recognising Self-Opinionated Behaviour in Employees

Having strong opinions is normal. Employees are expected to contribute their experience and make recommendations. The concern arises when someone treats their personal view as the only reasonable answer. There are several behaviours managers may notice:

• Dismissing suggestions too quickly: Rejecting a colleague’s idea before understanding how it might work.
• Relying heavily on past experience: Assuming an approach will continue to work simply because it has worked before.
• Defending decisions without considering consequences: Explaining why a decision is correct while overlooking how it affects other people.
• Showing little interest in different viewpoints: Allowing others to speak but rarely asking questions or exploring their suggestions.

Body language and tone may provide additional clues, but they should not be treated as proof of someone’s mindset. A quiet employee, for example, may be thinking carefully rather than rejecting an idea. Managers need to pay attention to what employees actually say and do, particularly when different opinions are discussed.

Why Exploring Implications Matters

Every workplace decision has consequences, including those that may not be obvious at first. An employee might make a decision that helps them complete their own work faster but creates additional work for another department.

A salesperson may promise an urgent delivery to secure an order without checking whether the operations team can meet the deadline. From the salesperson’s perspective, the decision makes sense because it satisfies the customer. However, the operations team may have to rearrange other deliveries, potentially affecting customers who were already expecting their orders. The decision may still be appropriate, but its wider implications deserve consideration.

When employees learn to examine these implications, they become better equipped to:

• Make more informed decisions: Consider possible outcomes before choosing an approach.
• Work more effectively with others: Understand how their decisions affect colleagues and other departments.
• Recognise potential problems earlier: Identify risks that might otherwise be overlooked.

Exploring implications also helps employees explain their decisions more clearly. They can show that they have considered the consequences rather than simply insisting that their opinion is correct.

Coaching Strategies to Shift Self-Opinionated Mindsets

Managers can help employees develop this habit through everyday discussions. These three approaches are particularly useful:

1. Explore the Reasoning Behind Their Opinion

Before challenging an employee’s view, understand why they hold it. Their opinion may be based on valuable experience, concerns about quality or information that others have missed. A manager might ask: “What makes you feel this is the best way?”

Listen to the explanation before asking what else needs to be considered. This gives the employee an opportunity to explain their reasoning without feeling that the manager has already rejected their opinion.

2. Help Them Consider Who Else Is Affected

Once the employee has explained their view, widen the discussion to include other people involved. For example, if an employee proposes changing a work process, ask how the change might affect colleagues who depend on that process. The aim is to help the employee recognise consequences that may not be visible from their own position.

3. Examine Different Possible Outcomes

Encourage employees to think about what might happen if their preferred approach is followed. Discuss both the possible benefits and the risks. A useful conversation may reveal that the employee’s original suggestion is still the best option. Alternatively, it may highlight a need to adjust the approach. Either outcome is valuable when the decision has been considered carefully.

Steps for Developmental Conversations

When an employee strongly disagrees with another viewpoint, managers can guide the discussion through these four steps:

1. Understand their position

Allow the employee to explain their opinion and the experience or information behind it. Avoid beginning the conversation by telling them they are wrong.

2. Explore the wider impact

Help the employee consider who else may be affected and what those people might experience.

3. Consider other possibilities

Discuss what could happen if a different approach were used. Encourage the employee to compare possible outcomes rather than defend one answer.

4. Agree on what to do next

Ask the employee to identify a practical next step. This could involve checking with another department, seeking additional information or testing a suggestion before making a final decision. The conversation should lead to a clearer decision or action, rather than ending with a general agreement to be more open-minded.

15 Coaching Questions to Explore Implications

These questions can help employees think more carefully about their opinions and the possible consequences of their decisions.

Choose those that fit the situation. There is no need to ask all 15 in one conversation.

1. What makes you feel this is the best way?
2. What do you think will happen if we continue doing it this way?
3. How might this affect the rest of the team?
4. Have you considered why your colleague sees it differently?
5. What could be the good and bad sides of your suggestion?
6. If we try another approach, what might happen?
7. Who else might be affected by this decision?
8. What concerns do you think the others may have?
9. Is there anything we might have overlooked?
10. What if the situation changes? Would your approach still work?
11. What have you heard from others that is worth considering?
12. How would you feel if you were in their position?
13. What could happen if we make this decision too quickly?
14. What would help us decide which approach works better?
15. After looking at the different possibilities, what do you think we should do?

A Workplace Situation: When Experience Becomes a Barrier

Consider a senior Operations Supervisor who has managed warehouse deliveries for many years. During a team discussion, a younger colleague suggests changing the order-picking sequence to reduce unnecessary movement around the warehouse.

The Supervisor immediately dismisses the suggestion. “We’ve been doing this for years. Our current system works fine.”. Rather than challenging his experience, an Operations Manager asks him to explain why he prefers the existing process. The Supervisor points out that the current sequence is familiar to the team and helps them avoid picking errors. The Manager acknowledges these concerns and then asks: “What do you think could happen if we tested the new sequence with just a few orders?”.

As they discuss the suggestion, the Supervisor begins to see that a limited trial could provide useful information without disrupting the entire operation. He agrees to compare the two approaches using order accuracy, picking time and feedback from the warehouse team. The trial may show that the existing method remains more effective. It may also reveal opportunities for improvement.

What matters is that the Supervisor is now willing to examine the suggestion based on its possible impact rather than rejecting it immediately.

Conclusion

Employees with strong opinions can bring valuable experience, confidence and decisiveness to a team. The challenge is helping them recognise when their own perspective may be too narrow. Managers can support this development by asking employees to examine the reasoning behind their opinions, consider who else may be affected and think through different possible outcomes.

Over time, these conversations can help employees make decisions with greater awareness of their impact on others. The next time an employee insists that their approach is the best, try asking: “What do you think could happen if we looked at this another way?”. Their answer may open up a discussion that would otherwise never happen.