| Typically, agressive people are those who can't admit defeat, agressivity being their last resort to "still win". The trick is to maintain their illusion that they are in control. So instead of saying:
"It would be unwise to implement this feature because of X" you could say: "I'm wondering if X could stop us from implementing this feature efficiently, what do you think?" (what do you think = I am relegating control to you) Stay clear of personal statements as much as possible but if it's unavoidable, think of "leaving them an open door" Say your PO ate your lunch (for god knows what reason), you would not say: "Why did you eat my lunch?", you would say: "It might have been an accident but did you eat my lunch?" (It might have been an accident = I'm giving you a ready-made excuse that you can use so that you can still feel in control about stuff) It is important to have you "open door" at the begining of the statement for maximum effectiveness. --- Business-wise though, the typical steps is - try and fix it one on one (use the open door trick): "It might be just me but did you notice work tensions between us, if so how can we fix this..." - if this fails, go to HR but don't talk badly about anyone, you need to use the "ask for advice" approach. - if this fails, start sending your cv to other jobs |