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Influencing Strategy Flips

The document discusses 8 different influencing strategies: empowerment, interpersonal awareness, bargaining, relationship building, organizational awareness, common vision, impact management, and logical persuasion. For each strategy, the document outlines when the strategy would be most effective and least effective to use. It also discusses coercion as a strategy and when that may or may not be effective.

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AbdurRahmanF
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37 views

Influencing Strategy Flips

The document discusses 8 different influencing strategies: empowerment, interpersonal awareness, bargaining, relationship building, organizational awareness, common vision, impact management, and logical persuasion. For each strategy, the document outlines when the strategy would be most effective and least effective to use. It also discusses coercion as a strategy and when that may or may not be effective.

Uploaded by

AbdurRahmanF
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Empowerment

Making others feel valued by involving them in


decision-making, and giving them recognition

This strategy is most effective:


■when the people you want to influence have a high level
of knowledge and expertise
■when the culture of your organization supports
participation
■when it is important to maintain positive relationships
with colleagues at your level and below

This strategy is least effective:


■if those who are empowered don’t have the capability or
will to achieve the desired goal
■when the organization does not support participation in
crisis situations or when decisions must be made quickly
■when power is given to others without support or follow-
up

1
Interpersonal Awareness
Identifying others concerns and positioning one’s ideas
to address these concerns

This strategy is most effective:


■in most one-to-one influence situations
■when you don’t know the other person well
■when it is important to develop trust and rapport with the
other person
■when there is an underlying tension with the other
person that you need to understand and resolve

This strategy is least effective:


■when decisions must be made quickly
■when the other person’s decision will be based on
objective criteria such as price
■if your concern for the other person prevents you from
completing the task that needs to be done
■when the attempt to understand the other person is seen
as insincere or manipulative

2
Bargaining
Gaining support by negotiating a mutually
satisfactory outcome; exchanging favours, sharing
resources, making concessions

This strategy is most effective:


■in a political environment
■when asking someone to do something they would not
otherwise do
■when there is an adversarial quality to the relationship
■when you are in a position to do things for the other
person
■when you want to meet the needs of all parties involved

This strategy is least effective:


■with people you work with on a daily basis
■when either party feels it has got the bad end of the deal
■ for the person who is a less sophisticated negotiator
■ with people at a higher level than you
■when there is a lack of trust that the deal you have
agreed will actually be delivered

3
Relationship Building
Taking the time to get to know others personally; to
maintain friendly communications so that they will be
inclined to support your ideas in the future.

This strategy is most effective:


■when getting support depends upon positive
relationships
■to establish people’s long-term support with peers
■with clients and potential clients
■with people you see on a regular basis, over time
■when you could benefit from the support of people
outside your regular work group

This strategy is least effective:


■if insincere
■in crisis situations
■when you need support immediately and there is no time
to develop a relationship
■with people at a lower level than you
■ when the support of others is likely to be based on
objective criteria and logical arguments

4
Organizational Awareness
Identifying the key people in your organization, and
getting their support. Knowing who the key influencers
are
This strategy is most effective:
■when there are key people in the organization who can
influence a decision favorably or unfavorably
■with colleagues at your level and above
■when it is necessary to influence a number of people
from different parts of a large organization
■when the organization’s formal structure does not reflect
the real patterns of influence within the organization
■in highly politicized organizations

This strategy is least effective:


■when the person you want to influence is not acting as a
member of the organization
■when the person you want to influence does not have to
consider the reactions of others within the organization
■when the decision will actually be based on objective
criteria such as cost

5
Common Vision
Showing how your ideas support the organization’s
broader goals

This strategy is most effective:


■when managing a team with colleagues at your level and
below
■when you have high personal credibility − people want to
work with you for the organization
■ when your position gives you the authority to seek
support in this way

This strategy is least effective:


■when the organization’s goals and values are about to
change in unpredictable ways
■with people above you in the organization
■when you lack credibility − in the eyes of the people you
are trying to influence
■when the people you are trying to influence are cynical
about the organization

6
Impact Management
Choosing the most interesting, memorable or dramatic
way to present ideas, in order to gain people’s support

This strategy is most effective:


■ when it is important to make a very strong first
impression
■ when dealing with people you don’t know very well
■when creating or delivering presentations
■when dealing with groups

This strategy is least effective:


■when the decision to support an idea will be based on
rigorous, quantitative or logical criteria
■when trying to influence people you know very well
■when it is important to identify the other person’s specific
concerns

7
Logical Persuasion
Using logical reasons, expertise or data to convince
and persuade others

This strategy is most effective:


■with people who rely on logic and reason, for example -
engineers and scientists
■when the person you are trying to influence is
systematically comparing several products, ideas or
alternatives

This strategy is least effective:


■ when the people whose support you seek are strongly
influenced by personal relationships, rather than logic
■when personal goals, hopes or concerns affect people’s
reasoning
■when the other person is concerned with how ideas are
presented − not just their content
■when the decision is affected by political factors within
the organization

8
Coercion
Using threats, reprimands or pressure to get others to
do what you want
This strategy is most effective:
■when there is an emergency or crisis
■to get short-term compliance from a team member who
has performance problems
■with colleagues below your level who are much less
knowledgeable and just need to be told
■when threats and pressure are expected methods of
control within the organization
■when other influence strategies have been tried and have
failed

This strategy is least effective:


■when long-term support is needed
■when others need to understand or agree with the
reasons for your actions or decisions
■when used with colleagues at your level or above
■when used with others who have high levels of
knowledge and expertise
When it is not an accepted way of getting things done

9
Most Used Influencing Strategy

10
Least Used Influencing Strategy

11
Reflection Template
Part 2 – Small Group Discussion
How many different
influencing strategies did
you use? Note down a few
examples
Behaviours that helped the
team perform

Behaviours that hindered


team performance
Part 3 – Large Group Discussion
Did you change the style of
influencing when
interacting with the larger
team? Note down a few
examples
Behaviours that helped the
team perform

Behaviours that hindered


team performance

12
Reflection Template
Part 2 – Small Group Discussion
How many different
influencing strategies did
you use? Note down a few
examples
Behaviours that helped the
team perform

Behaviours that hindered


team performance
Part 3 – Large Group Discussion
Did you change the style of
influencing when
interacting with the larger
team? Note down a few
examples
Behaviours that helped the
team perform

Behaviours that hindered


team performance

13
Reflection Template
Part 2 – Small Group Discussion
How many different
influencing strategies did
you use? Note down a few
examples
Behaviours that helped the
team perform

Behaviours that hindered


team performance
Part 3 – Large Group Discussion
Did you change the style of
influencing when
interacting with the larger
team? Note down a few
examples
Behaviours that helped the
team perform

Behaviours that hindered


team performance

14

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