By Carolyn Crawford
Welcome to our final blog in our 4-part series about implementing your Influencing Skills whether with your teams, management, clients or cross-functional business units.
This one revolved around tailoring your core communication skills to accommodate people with different thinking preferences to your own. More specifically it breaks down how we can Ask, Appreciate and Advocate to people with different thinking preference in a way that will increase our credibility, respect, rapport and influence with those people. So here we go.
L1 (left brain cerebral) – BLUE:
Asking
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Be direct, clear, to the point
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Ask concrete questions regarding facts
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Particularly focus on bottom-line, outcomes and timelines
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Favourite question: “what”
Appreciating
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Demonstrate that you’re listening and understanding
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Play back facts, briefly
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Show respect for them and their thoughts
Advocating
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Be prepared
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Put forward a structured, logical argument
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Stick to bullet points
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Don’t tangent or elaborate unnecessarily
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Be direct, clear, confident, reasonably unemotional
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Include cost-benefit analysis
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Focus on bottom line outcomes
L2 (left brain limbic) – GREEN
Asking
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Prepare your questions and even refer to your question list during the meeting to show your preparation!
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Ask detailed questions about implications, costs, timing and risks
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Focus on practicalities, processes, steps, timelines, measuring and monitoring
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Favourite question: “how”
Appreciating
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Show that you’re listening by nodding regularly and taking notes
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Ask follow-on questions regarding specific details
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‘Reflect’ facts in reasonable detail
Advocating
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Be thoroughly prepared
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Present a logical, methodical, robust, thorough argument
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Include all supporting evidence and references whether in the main body or appendices
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Add graphs, tables, timelines and gantt charts
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Include risk analysis and risk-mitigation plan
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Send pack as pre-reading in advance
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Deliver factually and with a minimum of flamboyance or fuss
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Have enough copies of handouts, check all your equipment, have backup plans
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Ensure post-meeting follow up emails to confirm your understanding of next steps and to respond to any outstanding issues or queries that came up on the day
R1 (right brain cerebral) – YELLOW
Asking
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Include small-talk – personal questions
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Ask questions about strategy, big picture, vision, goals, dreams, hopes, aspirations
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Options, alternatives, ideas, opinions, possibilities and “what ifs”
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Feel free to tangent if a question reminds you of something else
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Be willing to challenge and explore
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Favourite question: “why” eg “why do we do it this way?” or “why not” eg “why don’t we consider”
Appreciating
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Be open, flexible, follow the conversation, follow the leaps in logic and go with the flow
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Acknowledge their ideas even if you don’t agree. They might appreciate a “wow – great idea”. Or even a simple “interesting idea. What if we were to massage that a bit…”
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Build on their ideas if you can. Use one of their to add your own.
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Reflect feelings as well as facts
Advocating
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Stay high level. Include context. Be visionary and inspirational
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Include options and speculations considered, discarded and why
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Involve them if you can
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Add some fun if you can
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Be informal, flexible, tangential and spontaneous
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Add colour to the Powerpoint pack or handout if using one. Also pictures, symbols and other graphic representation
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Deliver with enthusiasm and energy
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Choose an environment with limited distractions 🙂
R2 (right brain limbic) – RED
Asking
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Include personal questions. They’ll consider you rude if you don’t
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Ask about the team, the culture, the people, the customer experience
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Explore the impact of any changes on them and their people
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Ask thoughtfully, kindly, courteously, considerately
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Favourite questions: “who” eg “who will be involved? Who will be impacted?”
Appreciating
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Listen attentively and empathically
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Reflect feelings and facts
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Give plenty of body language and verbal feedback
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Acknowledge their efforts, ideas and solutions
Advocating
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Focus on values, ethics, people impacts and their customers (internal or external)
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Limit the detail. Stick to higher level
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Consider benefits and consequences to all and how you can soften the blow of any bad news
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Pre-empt questions, concerns or issues you expect might be on their mind
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Include them, involved them, ask them – particularly about how they expect the team might feel or react
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Deliver informally, personally, perhaps over coffee
So that's it. All you need to know about influencing in 4 easy blogs :) Happy influencing and stay in touch to let us know how you go.