TOPIC 10 INFLUENCE
Power = the “official” (org- backed & controlled) right to assume designated org responsibilities & order others to assist you Influence = an informal (not backed by org power) attempt to make people behave in certain ways for professional or personal agendas
Power is limited by the org; influence is limited by human dynamics: interdependencies + personalities + agendas. Power most affects official org activities; influence most affects the informal (human interactions) “real” org.
Power is visible; influence is invisible. The more you use power, the more other sources of power will be used against you; the more you use positive influence, the more it might be used to support you.
POWER MOVES Hiring/firing Job descriptions Policies & rules Meeting agendas Budgets Departments & formal org structure Product strategy
INFLUENCE IN ACTION Teamwork & virtual teams Brainstorming Leading/motivating Group dynamics (peer pressure, “groupthink,” employee morale, etc.)
P3 Help you deal productively with workplace dramas
POSITIVE INFLUENCE: Benefits multiple agendas Gives people choices via participation
Positive I.I. Turning me into we (independence into interdependence) My success becomes our success. 4 I AMs magnets
NEGATIVE INFLUENCE: Is hatched by personal agendas Feeds on disguises, deceptions, manipulation, & exploitation Creates resistance
Negative I.I. “Follow me (us) & we’ll go places together.” Mutual back-scratching “Do me (us) a favor…” “Join our side & we’ll win.” “No one will know.”
INTERACTIVE INFLUENCE
The potential for influence is greatest in the heat of the moment of human engagement: interpersonal productivity + genuine emotion. Know where & when people are psychologically engaged.
P1 Increase your professional play-making savvy
INFLUENCE STRATEGIES (ranked by greatest + potential) 1.Persuasiveness 2.Networking 3.Expertise 4.Innovative thinking 5.Politics (negative potential)
Utexts
Utexts wants to transition out of printed texts into digital online texts. A project team of Utexts production & marketing brainstormed strategic ideas they hope will influence their exec team to reinvent the company.
UTEXTS TRANSITION TACTICS (using the 5 influence strategies from the concept slides)
1.Make the ancillary learning package that accompanies the digitext the main profit center. (Inno think #4) 2.Survey college students to find out their point of view about printed vs. digital textbooks. (Networking #2)
3.Make JCs & tech schools bigger profit drivers than 4- year colleges. (Net #2) 4.Recruit academics at tier-2 schools to write practical texts, & hire pedagogy consultants to develop hands-on software relevant enough to sell the texts. (Expertise #3)
5.Retain lobbyist to sell state pols on budget benefits of cheaper higher ed digi texts (Politics #5) 6.Buy high potential digi publisher (Power not influence) 7.Mine Facebook data base for advertising/promo ideas (Net #2) 8.Launch online ad campaign to profs & academic depts (Persuasiveness #1)
MAKING PLAYS!MAKING PLAYS!
1.Knowing when to use formal power vs. informal influence 2.Increasing your influence via superior interpersonal skills 3.Minimizing the harm you cause & the good you generate by using power & influence