The world has changed forever due to COVID-19. As we complying “social distancing” and “remote working”, messages are no longer be able to conveyed in person. Missing this communication channel undeniably increased the difficulty of influencing co-workers, especially when we disagree.
To relieve this situation, I am sharing some proven practices that would help.
The Core Idea
People want to believe they are in charge of our decision-making process. Like this quote:
“People love to buy, but hate to be sold”.
We should guide colleagues to their own decision, rather than overriding other voices with authorities. This psychology rule is so effective and still empowering most marketing campaigns today, and marketing is just another form of influencing.
Data Wins Argument
The 1st practice is leveraging data as “Passive Persuasion”, a persuasion without a single word from your perspective. In fact, at Facebook, one of the core cultures is “Data Wins Argument”, let the number speak for themselves.
To implement this, before any further conversation, there’re 3 steps:
- Broadcast the latest data points related to the topic, in the proper channel.
- Align on the inference of fact data. This is important since the “intuitive read” may vary from person to person.
- Propose solutions based on these data
“If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.” - Jim Barksdale
As this quote said, for decision-maker, always remember checking data before exercising the authorities.
Ask Questions with Finesse
In addition to the “passive” approach, the “active” approach is to ask the right question at the right time with finesse.
Questions type include:
- Open-ended: “What are the risk of this proposal?”
- Close-ended: “Do we have to fix it now?”
- Discovery: “Did we explore other alternatives?”
- Redirection: “Let’s assume depending service X is not ready by H1, what‘s our plan?’
When asked properly, these questions would push your colleague pondering them and come back with answers. We, like consultants, are not hard-selling our point, just ask for a gap-filling and an iterated version of the solution.
This is even more effective in a bigger group setting, like “Product Review” meetings. However, don’t offer an alternative on the spot.
Remember, all these practices requires even more empathy and finesse, so that our colleagues can sense we are coming from a place of caring and kind.
Have a Time Frame
Last, acknowledge the priority and time cost of discussion is critical. Sometimes there are hard choices that need a lot of discussions. When realizing that we are wasting time arguing over trivial perspectives, we should bow out, even if the decision points to a different direction than we hoped.
