Lead Your Team to Victory: The Dos and Don’ts of Effective Group Influence

Much of our work today depends on our ability to influence the groups of people we lead or work with on projects. Groups are made up of many personalities, mindsets, motives and agendas, some explicit and some hidden, so having a specific strategy for influencing teams can mean the difference between success and failure.

To successfully lead a group or team, consider the following pros and cons. These tips will help you be an effective influencer and prepare for the unique challenges you’re likely to experience when trying to influence teams and groups.

BACK

Mentally separate the group. Prior knowledge is essential for efficient planning, and in order to influence the people in the group, you must address each one of them before the meeting takes place. Think of the group as a collection of people, each of whom has opinions and issues that you must try to understand in order to influence them. Put yourself in the shoes of each team member and make some assumptions about what her main concerns might be so that she can create a strategy for those she will need to influence. For example, looking at people in a work team, you might think:

If I were ___, what would worry me more?

What would ___’s response be to my efforts to influence the group?

If I were ___, how would I respond to “me”?

What does ___ feel he has to gain and lose?

Form a coalition of common ground. Again, before the group meets, reach out to those you’ve identified as key stakeholders and listen to their concerns. Check the assumptions you have made. Ask questions to find out the main concerns of stakeholders, how each sees the issues, and where they might experience resistance.

Consider some self-disclosure if you feel it’s appropriate, such as similar situations you may have been in or ways you feel you might identify with a key member’s position.

Once you’ve established a relationship with these key people, set your focus and you’ll be ready to capitalize on common issues when the whole group comes together. You can open the meeting by saying something like, “I know none of us in this room are really welcoming change right now. We all have something to lose from this proposal, but we all have something to gain. make that gain something that offsets the loss.

Make the desired results clear. From the first group meeting, let them know what you hope the team will accomplish. Create a vision for the group by presenting a clear picture of future success; this can play a key role in your ability to influence them. For example, you might say, “What I can see us doing today is coming up with a strategy that we can all accept and achieve.” Or “I can see us looking back at this meeting a year from now and saying that’s when we really changed things.”

Provide justification for your ideas. Backing up your arguments with facts shows that you’ve done your “homework” and provides a good balance to your vision. Remember, people can be convinced by rational reasoning, but they will be more likely to move to action when you complement rationality with arguments based on emotion.

Ask open and focused questions. Your goal should be inclusion and creating rapport with all members of the group. Without being passive or giving too much ground, ask how, what, where, and why questions that dig deeper, focusing on a particular topic or statement. For example:

“How do you suggest we proceed with an initiative like this?”

“What are some ways you think we could move faster on these issues?”

“Can you tell me more about your concerns?”

“What do you think we should do, ___?”

“Who do you think we need to get on board to make this happen?”

Create a “brainstorming” atmosphere. Let the group know that they will need to create and explore many options and that you are open to hearing their ideas. Motivate the group by setting ground rules for brainstorming and how the group will listen to each other to promote open thinking.

Vote when appropriate. Votes should be private because when people have to take a public position, they will naturally feel more defensive. Always vote only when there are multiple options on the table. Before the vote, keep people open and thinking about the possibilities, instead of just giving them two options: this or that. Otherwise, they will choose that and have a tendency to defend their choice, even if they don’t wholeheartedly believe in it.

NOT TO DO

Don’t let people take a fixed position. To avoid being defensive, encourage openness and collaboration from the start. If people take a position too soon, they will have a tendency to dig in and defend it. Suggest putting several options on a flipchart and then narrowing them down to the top three before voting. If you do your homework, you won’t be surprised by team members who come to the meeting with fixed positions in mind that they will try to advance. The best way to deal with this when it happens is to say, “I know some people have a clear idea of ​​how we should do this. I’ll put that option on the board. I want to bring up a couple of other options as well.” here too, so what are some other possibilities?”

Don’t put people in like-minded discussion groups. To encourage diversity of opinion, group people together as much as possible who have contrasting points of view. That way, instead of reinforcing each other’s positions, the groups will explore new territory and create new material through the interaction of their ideas. Mix the groups up to debate each other and you’ll eliminate self-reinforcing “groupthink.”

Don’t let objections sabotage the team. When a team member objects, they don’t have to sink the ship; rather, he sees objections as signals of an opportunity to gain information that will allow him to influence the group. Dig deeper into objections and empathize with the team members raising them, really listening to what they have to say about why they disagree. Then take some time to reflect on the information before trying to overcome the objection. Don’t give an answer too quickly or the objector will feel like you didn’t really hear or that you’re giving a prepared answer.

Let’s go Team! Influence your way to success

Great communication skills are essential for you to be able to effectively influence teams and groups. You can’t lead a group well if you go to the meeting “cold.” You need to do your homework ahead of time, communicating individually with key stakeholders, so you can understand their concerns and move the team in the direction you want it to go. When you are prepared, but remain flexible, your influence will also extend to those in the group who tend to dig in behind a predetermined position to defend it. Practicing and refining your team’s influence strategy will lead to success for your group, your project, and you!