AIBS National News

by Dr. Peter Honey
In a sense, all conversations between people at work involve influencing. Just think how many times your colleagues ‘lobby’ you in an attempt to influence a decision, get you to change your mind about something or persuade you to do something.

Explicitly or implicitly the aim of most communication between people is to influence. Whenever, therefore, your colleagues attempt to persuade you, it automatically provides a learning opportunity – if only you can get them to see it that way.

There are a number of influencing techniques you can help your team to develop which will stand them in good stead as persuaders. Watch for the following, did he/she:

• Ask you questions to establish your starting position? 
• Set a realistic objective in light of your starting position? 
• Capture your interest with an initial benefit statement, ie say how you stood to gain? 
• Go on to describe other potential benefits? 
• Offer ‘evidence’ to back up the benefits being claimed?
• Attempt to defuse some of your objections before you raised them?
• Finish with a summary of the idea and its main benefits?
• Sound enthusiastic?
• Look at you for about half the time and make plenty of eye contact?

Any or all of these aspects are excellent lessons for your colleagues and it is more powerful to use real pieces of persuasion that crop up in the normal working day than artificially contrived role-playing exercises that are typically used on courses. Whenever your colleagues seek to influence you, which is often, you have an opportunity to coach handed to you on a plate.