When you disagree with a corporate policy, think your co-worker’s idea is terrible, or are convinced your boss isn’t going to get the best results with the program she wants to implement, the solution seems easy: Voice your opposition—right?  RELATED: Giving Constructive Criticism—That Won’t Make Anyone Cringe  While speaking your mind is admirable (and, as many managers will tell you, a valuable asset in an employee), it’s not always worth your (or your team’s) time to pursue every issue you disagree with.  While this may seem counterintuitive, take me for example: You see, I’m far from confrontational and don’t pick fights often, but over my first few jobs, I pursued some conflicts that just weren’t worth it. Whether I was rallying against a corporate policy that was set in stone or nixing every idea from a co-worker I personally disliked, in the end, some battles actually worked against me.  So, to make sure you’re pursuing the battles that really matter (and that you’re doing it with the right intentions), learn from my mistakes—and ask yourself the following questions before picking a fight.  You’re not going to be best friends with everyone you work with. In fact, there may be a few co-workers you flat out dislike. But when you start to mix your professional responsibilities with your personal feelings, it suddenly become a lot easier to pick arguments.  At my last job, I picked the worst person to develop negative feelings toward: my boss. We’d known each other for several years, so the feelings went deeper than a typical employee-manager relationship. And once that dislike had developed, I felt the sudden need to find the negative in every idea she presented—which you can bet caused some tension in the office.  RELATED: How to Deal With the 5 Most Negative Types of Co-workers  I had to train myself to take a step back and evaluate my intentions: Was the idea one I truly opposed? Or was I arguing for the sake of proving her wrong? Once I started looking at the driving force behind my battles, I found that most of the time, I was pushing against her as a person—not necessarily her ideas.  Typically, my employees are allowed to surf the web on their work computers during their lunch breaks—as long as they publicly indicate (usually with a sign hanging on their desk) that they’re at lunch. So, I was surprised when my boss recently called me into her office to let me know that the higher-ups thought this lunch-hour habit looked unproductive and, therefore, would no longer allow it.  Immediately, I grew defensive. After all, my hourly employees don’t get paid during their lunch hour, so in my mind, they should be able to use that time however they want.  Wanting to rally for my team’s lunch hour rights, I started making a big push against this new rule to my manager (I vaguely remember using the phrase “silly corporate policy”). My boss was quick to refute that no matter how “silly” it was, it was my job to back up the wishes of the C-suite.  I quickly saw that my stance against the corporate policy wasn’t going to do much good—and in fact, didn’t put me in a good light with my boss or the execs. Now, if the issue had been a harder-hitting one, it may have been worth it to continue to push back for what I believed in. But in my case, knowing that the majority of my employees had access to a smartphone and a break room upstairs, I knew it wasn’t a battle I truly needed to pursue.  Take a close enough look, and there are certainly things you don’t like about your organization. Maybe you think a process needs to be more efficient, your CRM software needs to have different functionality, or management needs to employ a different leadership style.  RELATED: First Office Problems: 3 Things Managers Should Never Complain About  In my office, there’s one particular employee who particularly enjoys pointing these things out—multiple times per day. “The customer support team never gives me the information I need,” he’ll tell me, or, “This process is a waste of time.”
Ready to voice your opinion at work? Before you speak up, here's how to wade through the not-so-worthwhile battles and focus on what really matters.