Tackling Your Toughest Influence Challenges: Tools for Leading and Influencing in a Matrix

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Tackling Your Toughest Influence Challenges: Tools for Leading and

Influencing in a Matrix

Speaker: Elizabeth RayerPrincipal & Director of Corporate EducationVantage PartnersCarol BonettSenior Consultant, Corporate EducationVantage Partners

Moderator: Mike ProkopeakVice President, Editorial DirectorChief Learning Officer magazine

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Mike ProkopeakVice President, Editorial DirectorChief Learning Officer magazine



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Elizabeth RayerPrincipal & Director of Corporate EducationVantage Partners

Carol BonettSenior Consultant, Corporate EducationVantage Partners



Tackling Your Toughest Influence ChallengesTools for Leading and Influencing in a Matrix

Brighton Landing West 10 Guest Street Boston, MA USA 02135 www.vantagepartners.comThis publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, or in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission. Copyright © 2012 by Vantage Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

About Vantage Partners

Mission: Drive measurable business results by transforming the way companies negotiate with, and manage relationships with, key internal and external business partners

Practice Areas: Corporate Education, Strategic Alliances, Sourcing and Supplier Management, Outsourcing Governance and Relationship Management, Key Account Management, Payer‐Provider Relationship Management

Spin‐off of the Harvard Negotiation Project

Faculty at Harvard University, the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and the US Military Academy at West Point

Leaders in international conflict resolution through CMG (now part of Mercy Corps)

• Arias Peace Accords,

• Post‐apartheid South African constitution

Copyright © 2012 by Vantage Partners, LLC.

Vantage Partners publications

Copyright © 2012 by Vantage Partners, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

What do we mean by “Influence”?

The ability to resolve conflicts, solve problems, reach joint decisions, and get results with or through others

The exercise of this ability —without requiring the use of force or formal, direct authority

Influence applies in many contexts….

decision–making, cross functional resource allocation, managing and

leading others, internal alignment and implementation


Today’s organizations drive the need for influence

Enterprise–wide initiatives and matrix reporting lines means dependency on others whom there is no formal authority over to achieve goals

Seeking creative solutions to complex problems means having to constantly engage in constructive efforts to mutually persuade people with different priorities, skills, knowledge, and ways of working

Balancing competing priorities and tradeoffs means having to manage up to secure resources or negotiate deadlines and priorities

Relying upon command/control to make decisions and take action is no longer sufficient (nor effective) to get things done


Poll Question: Influence a core competency?

How often (or how much) do your employees need to rely on influence skills to meet their goals and objectives?

1. Rarely

2. Occasionally

3. Often

4. Most of the time

5. All the time


Poll Question: Influence competency in your organization

How would you rate the influence capability within your organization?

1. Poor

2. Inadequate

3. Average

4. Good

5. Excellent


Common influence strategies and tactics often prove inadequate

• Approaching influence as something that is done to others, and not a collaborative activity to be engaged in with others

• Creating conversations that allow for only two responses ‐ agree or disagree

• Focusing only on attractive ways of presenting our own ideas without doing enough to understand resistance of others


The challenge

When the stakes are high, when we are confronted with a complex landscape of myriad stakeholders with

conflicting interests, and when we need to influence others with whom we will have ongoing interactions, and thus need to build strong working relationships, a fundamentally different approach to persuasion is

called for


Common influence traps

1. Spending too much time trying to get others to understand your point of view

2. Spending too much time trying to get people to say “yes” and not enough trying to understand why they are saying “no” (and “selling”)

3. Spending too much time trying to influence the wrong people

4. Assuming efficiency and inclusion are mutually exclusive in decision‐making


Poll Question: Which traps do people in your organization most typically fall into (select all that apply)?

1. Spending too much time trying to get others to understand their point of view

2. Spending too much time trying to get people to say “yes” and not enough trying to understand why they are saying “no” (and “selling”)

3. Spending too much time trying to influence the wrong people

4. Assuming efficiency and inclusion are mutually exclusive in decision‐making


What are the results of these traps?

18Copyright © 2012 by Vantage Partners, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Spending too much time trying to get others to understand your point of view

Spending too much time trying to get people to say “yes” and not enough trying to understand why they are saying “no” (“selling”)

Spending too much time trying to influence the wrong people

Assuming efficiency and inclusion are mutually exclusive in decision‐making

They may feel disrespected and/or pressured;

They feel unheard; and respond

with more (vehement) objections

Wasted time and confusion

Delays in action around decisions or overlooking important information or perspectives

Common Traps Results

Requires a different set of assumptions

Mindset / Thinking Skills/ Behavior Results


Trap 1: Spending too much time trying to get others to understand your point of view

rivetingtedious

Different perspectives

tediousriveting


anticipationdread

Different perspectives

dreadanticipation


23

The Ladder of Inference

Think about how you reached your conclusions. What dataare you focused on? How doyou reason from that data to your conclusion? Inquire into

the reasoning paths of others.

In your discussions, move “up” from data to interpretations to

conclusions. Expose your data and reasoning to

challenge.

Share

Inquire

Share

Inquire

Share

Inquire

My Conclusions Their Conclusions

My Interpretations Their Interpretations

My Data Their Data

DATA POOL

The Ladder of Inference is based on the work of Chris Argyris and the partners of Action Design.


Trap 2: Spending too much time trying to get people to say "yes” and not enough trying to understand why they are saying "no.”

You can’t change someone’s mind unless you know where their mind is

When faced with a “No,” there is nothing more disempowering than assuming the person you are trying to influence is stupid, crazy, or evil

People do what they believe is their best interests (regardless of whether you think it is a good idea or not)

Key insights about influence


Currently Perceived Choice Chart

27Copyright © 2012 by Vantage Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

Decision maker: ______________________

Question: “Shall I today ________________________________________?”

If “Yes” If “No”

–

–

–

–

–

–

+

+

+

+

+

+ I can always say “yes” tomorrow

Currently Perceived Choice (CPC) Chart

Decision maker: Carol (Operations)

Question: Shall I this day give in to the unreasonable demand from Liz (Sales) to deliver the report early so she can look good?

I jeopardize my other priorities, including deliverables to my boss. I have to work even longer hours, or ask someone else in my group to do it.I reward bad behavior (was not consulted about the change of timeline) and set a bad precedent.I come across as a pushover.I promote Liz’s agenda at my own expense (I get no recognition.)

+ I stay focused on my priorities.+ I keep my boss happy.+ I stand up for myself.+ I make Liz better in the future (your lack of planning is not my emergency).+ I don’t work long hours, or impose on my colleagues to help with my projects.+ I can always say yes later.

If “Yes” If “No”

Copyright © 2012 by Vantage Partners, LLC. 28

Trap 3: Spending too much time trying to influence the wrong people

Business Unit Marketing Finance

HenriGolda

Ang

Tom

Rick

Ladonna

You

Ashesh

Ahmed

José

Stakeholder & Influence Mapping

Copyright © 2012 by Vantage Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

+

?–

=

?

–

=

+

++

Trap 4: Assuming efficiency and inclusion are mutually exclusive in decision‐making

Why is it important?

Who has the authority to make a decision can be unclear


33

If Unclear, the result is a decision making bottleneck…

At a leading automaker, product developers and marketers were asked who was responsible for making new models:

When asked, “Who has the right to decide which features would be standard”…

64% of Product Developers said “We do”

83% of Marketers said “We do”

When asked, “Who has the right to decide which colors will be offered”…

77% of Product Developers said “We do”

61% of Marketers said “We do”

Paul Rogers and Marcia Blenko, Harvard Business Review, 2006Copyright © 2012 by Vantage Partners, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Why is it important?

Who has the authority to make a decision can be unclear

Involving too many people leads to delays in action

An insufficiently inclusive process risks overlooking important information or perspectives

An insufficiently inclusive process may lead those who feel excluded to resist implementing decisions

Soliciting input can feel risky because it often creates an expectation that advice or suggestions will be followed

People often assume that to affect the outcome of a decision they must be a decision maker

Different people have different Interests and should have different roles in making decisions


Decision Driver Inform Consult Negotiate

The D‐I‐C‐N Tool

Person to manage the processof getting to the decision and ensuring that the decision gets made.

Those people whohave formal authorityto actually makethe decision.

Complexissues, actions, or decisions that have been broken into specificsub-issues.

The parties who may act as advisors to the decision makers and whose views ought to be considered before taking action, but who do not have authority to vote on the decision or reject whatever decision is made.

Those who need to be told about the decision because they will need to implement it or will be impacted by it.


The Ladder of Inference (seeing things differently)

Currently Perceived Choice chart (getting into their shoes)

Stakeholder and Influence Mapping (determining an optimal sequence to engage stakeholders )

D‐I‐C‐N (clarifying decision‐making rights and responsibilities)

Poll Question: Which tool discussed today do you thing would be most helpful in solving your toughest influence challenges?

36Copyright © 2012 by Vantage Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

What are the results of a different mindset and thus, approach?

37Copyright © 2012 by Vantage Partners, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

First seek to understand their resistance (uncover their interests)

Actively look for ways to satisfy their interests

Identify stakeholders for each unique situation and work to build your network

Clarify roles and responsibilities upfront, including who actually needs to agree

The other person feels heard, and are therefore more able to hear you

You are more likely to propose something to which they canand will say “yes”; they feel valued

Efficiency to the process of understanding who the stakeholders are and thus, getting input and alignment

Decisions are carried out with appropriate input and buy‐in

New Approach Results

Summary

Copyright © 2012 by Vantage Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

Enhancing our ability to work effectively in a matrix through influence depends in large part on changing deeply engrained assumptions about influence, and beginning to view both ourselves, and others, in a new and different

light.

A spin‐off of theHarvard Negotiation Project,

Vantage Partners helpscompanies achieve breakthrough business results by transforming

the way they negotiate with,and manage relationships with,

their suppliers, customers,and alliance partners – and

enhancing collaboration across internal organizational

boundaries.

Vantage Partners

10 Guest StreetBoston, MA 02135 USAT: +1 617.354.6090F: +1 617.354.4685

www.vantagepartners.com

Copyright © 2012 by Vantage Partners, LLC. All rights reserved. 39

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Questions & Answers

Elizabeth RayerPrincipal & Director of Corporate EducationVantage Partners

Carol BonettSenior Consultant, Corporate EducationVantage Partners

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