Showing posts with label leading others. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leading others. Show all posts

Saturday 4 November 2023

Minimizing Conflicts

  Minimizing Conflicts

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 



As we discuss the importance of developing project management skills to get things done in addition to functional expertise as we move up the career ladder, 80 % of the tasks are non-repetitive or project nature, and we may need to deal with many stakeholders who may not be directly reporting to us.

We discussed the relevance of defining outcomes, simplifying the complexity, holistic planning, big-picture orientation, insights on stakeholder outcomes, and reducing changes.
 
The next principle we can learn from project management is
 “minimizing conflicts.”
 
In a project environment, there is always uncertainty, which leads to conflict in ensuring timeline commitment, operating within budget, and delivering service/ product as per expectation. Being aware of this, seasoned project managers always focus on estimating the time and budget with all contingencies, giving them more power and a stress-free mindset when things go wrong.

In my earlier project experience, many times i made the mistake of underestimating the time and budgeting and got into conflict and stressful moments. Essential learning is the ability to predict some changes in advance and add some buffer in time and cost instead of looking at a straight line.

Also, project management insists on role clarity for all team members, performance expectations, and setting the right communication forum to discuss the issues, which i see as the proactive conflict management practices.

One of the studies says that conflict happens 91% of the time due to internal organization issues like lack of communication, underestimation of time, and role clarity rather than external issues like change in customer specification, macroeconomics, etc.

Project management focuses on minimizing conflict with contingency planning and communication processes.
 
How can the functional head apply this insight?
 

  1. Whenever you initiate a new task, spend more time estimating time and budget estimates with all possible contingencies.
  2. Define the roles and responsibilities of each member and set the performance expectations right at the beginning.

For example, as Human Resources head, while planning manpower budgeting for the financial year, if you spend quality time on the estimation of new recruit numbers, existing cost of retaining talent, market expectation on remuneration on new talent and its effect on internal with contingency will help you to get the proper budgeting approval from management and avoid the conflict later.

We often fail to anticipate changes, think situations are always straight lines, and underestimate contingency planning.
 
The key is most of the conflict comes on cost and timeline, which can be managed with proactive contingency planning.

Have a great week ahead.

Managing Stakeholders

 Managing Stakeholders  

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 

As we discuss the importance of developing project management skills to get things done in addition to functional expertise as we move up the career ladder, 80 % of the tasks are non-repetitive or project nature, and we may need to deal with many people who may not be directly reporting to us.

We discussed the relevance of project management principles in functional management, such as defining outcomes, reducing complexity into simplicity, holistic planning, and big-picture orientation.

The next principle we can learn from project management is “insights on managing stakeholders.”
 
What is managing stakeholders?

In any complex business task, many people will get involved directly or indirectly, and their influence will affect the outcome. Project management insists on stakeholder management as one of its components.

Stakeholder management is all about managing the people of varied interests/expectations who will affect the project outcome. It could be  involve them early, making them partners, communicating with them appropriately, and creating relationships. This management skill will help us to navigate the project successfully.

How can functional managers apply this insight?

Any initiative or task you do will need the support of others beyond your functions. The success or failure depends on the extent of collaboration we have with others. The others are stakeholders. They may have little interest in the initiative, or it may affect them or do not want it to be implemented.

Our management skill is to align all stakeholders to get things done.
 
For example,

Assume that you are the planning head and made a plan by coordinating sales and operations. In reality, things will go differently than planned, and you must change the plan frequently. When you change the plan frequently, it will affect the many stakeholders in the system, and they will get upset with the frequent changes.

In this situation, balancing the big picture of customer's order delivery and unexpected changes in a plan,  how you manage many stakeholders, and finally getting things done will be the testimonial of your stakeholder management skill.

Some of the tactics highly  effective people use to manage stakeholders, as i observed

1. Think and identify the people who will  benefit and be affected by the initiative
2. Approach and brief them in a personal and professional way about the purpose of the initiative and get their support
3. Make the stakeholders as team members ðŸ˜Š
4. Keep them communicated about the progress frequently so that they are not surprised and also feel included ðŸ˜Ž
 
 To summarise,
we must develop the ability to look at the stakeholders beyond our circle and make them inclusive by communicating with them appropriately and building relationships.
 
When we develop stakeholder management in any task, the likelihood of getting things done will be high.

Have a great week ahead!

Sunday 17 September 2023

Holistic Planning before execution

  Holistic Planning before execution 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)

 

As we discuss the importance of developing project management skills to get things done in addition to functional expertise as we move up, 80 % of the tasks are non-repetitive or project nature. We may need to deal with many stakeholders who may not directly report to us.

We discussed the relevance of defining outcomes in the beginning and reduce the complexity into simplicity to get things done in the workplace.
 
The next principle of project management is 
“Holistic Planning before execution.”

This principle says that before execution, we need to spend quality time on all aspects of planning. The mental visualization of possible risks will help us to solve the problem quickly as we already planned for it.
 
Generally, we do the planning before venturing into any event or task. However, we are primarily trained to plan typically on cost or budget, timeline or schedule aspects, and scope or deliverables aspects only.Having done reasonable planning on time, cost, and scope, we get into execution, and then we realize some changes in scope, and again, we get into managing the cost and timeline aspects. In the process, either we become poor in execution or the purpose is not met.

There only, project management suggests holistic planning beyond schedule, budget, and scope. The planning calls for a 360-degree approach to the event or task as much as possible. 
 
For example, when recruiting a senior person, you obviously go with the budget plan, timeline to close the recruitment process, job descriptions etc. Despite all the planning, the success of recruitment is not guaranteed. The reason is that we are not anticipating or visualizing other aspects related to recruitment beyond essential planning.
 
What are other factors to be planned before recruitment?

How are you going to search for the right people? (Procurement planning)
Who are all likely to get affected by the recruits, and what are their alternatives? (Stakeholder planning)
How do we communicate the new recruitments to all the employees? (Communication planning)
How does the organization structure change? (People planning)
What is the likely growth plan for the new recruit? (People planning)
How can we ensure the success of the new recruit in the first 100 days / one year in given organization dynamics? (Risk management planning)
What will happen if the new recruit fails or leaves the company quickly? (Risk mitigation planning)

 
You may note that this planning process goes beyond the budget/time/scope planning process, and this kind of visualization or planning process will likely lead to success…That is called holistic planning before the execution.
 
Holistic planning or visualization can be done for any simple daily task.

For example, you are making monthly presentation performance to your management team. In addition, with regular stuff or content, plan or think about who will be present in the meeting / what will be their likely questions / what may go wrong during presentations, and what is my plan B, etc.
 
Planning seems to be common sense; however, it needs to be holistic before execution, and looking at everything at 360 will give you an edge in getting things done.

This needs just awareness of our planning process before execution.

Have a great week ahead!

Complexity to Simplicity

 


 Complexity to Simplicity  
(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 
As we discuss the importance of developing project management skills to get things done in addition to functional expertise as we move up, 80 % of the tasks are non-repetitive or project nature, and we may need to deal with many stakeholders who may not be directly reporting to us.

Last week, we discussed the relevance of defining outcomes in the beginning to get things done.

The next principle of project management is to “ Reduce the complexity into simplicity.”

Principle 2:
Reduce the complexity into simplicity by breaking down the major tasks into milestone tasks and managing milestone tasks effectively
 
It is human nature that we are overwhelmed with any assignments/projects by considering the amount of multiple activities and the complexity involved in each activity. In the process, either we get cluttered with many thinking about activities and are unable to move beyond or skip any activities and face the consequences later. This principle helps to overcome the challenges.

For example,

“ Implementing an ERP system in your organization is given to you as a project."
 

The moment you think of the successful implementation of an ERP system, many thoughts will come to your mind, like identifying vendors, people's acceptance, awareness creation, choosing the right technology, the scope of the implementation, lack of prior experience, and so on. In this process, we never move confidently to the next step or somehow get into implementation, but projects struggle to serve the purpose or fail.
 
The reason is our inability to break the complex project into many micro milestones and define each milestone with the outcome, stakeholder management in each milestone, risk estimation, and countermeasures.

The principle says any complex project can be broken down into manageable milestones. One has to ensure that each milestone will succeed and, eventually, the overall project will also be successful.

Mainly, it focuses on the current task and clarity on what we want….That is what a functional manager has to learn in any complex project.

For example, as HR head, if you are given a task to recruit a " Quality Head" for your organization, you can divide the tasks into milestones as below and focus on one milestone at a time and ensure the success of one milestone. That will make you focus clearly and execute well rather than thinking of entire tasks.


 Once you practice breaking any complex into simple tasks, that will make you focus clearly and have the ability to manage the challenges in any complex situation

Let us discuss some other principles next week.

Have a great week ahead.
 

Define outcome

  Define outcome  

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 

As we discuss the importance of developing project management skills to get things done in addition to functional expertise as we move up, 80 % of the tasks are non-repetitive or project nature, and we may need to deal with many stakeholders who may not be directly reporting to us.

Let us understand the project management principles and how to apply them in day-to-day activities.

Principle 1:

In project management, one prime principle is that any project should have a defined outcome.

Indirectly, it means starting any task with the end objective in mind.
 
How any functional executive or manager can apply this principle in day-to-day activities?
 
In any task, mentally visualize what we look for at the end.
 
For example,
 
When writing a mail to customers or colleagues, what objective would you like to achieve in the communication?

When making a presentation to your team or management, think about the message you would like to convey at the end.

When meeting a new client, what would be the minimum success we expect at the end of the meeting?
 
When we start with the end objective as the focus, it helps us to think through using relevant words, slides, or content. When we do not have clarity of the end goal, we will be hovering around many sentences, slides, or conversations.
 
I use this principle in my consulting profession. Each client is unique, and priorities are different. When i visit them, my challenge is always time constraints and making an impact. I used to go with some mental agenda to be discussed with them and also sought their plan at the beginning of the day. That would help me determine what I need to accomplish at the end of the day and manage the time and people accordingly. If i do not have any agenda or objective, the proceedings would be more casual, as there are many stakeholders and high possibilities of sidetracking from the core.

 The point is that in either reviews/mail/presentations or any other dealings with others,
 if you mentally articulate what you want to accomplish at the end, that mindset will make you effective in getting things done.
 
Just relate your experience when dealing with any task before starting.

Let us discuss other project management principles that can be used for functional effectiveness next week.
 
Have a great week ahead!

Why project management skills in addition to functional skills?

 Why project management skills in addition to functional skills? 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 

 

As we have discussed the macro level importance of developing project management skills to get things done in the workplace, let us understand how a manager/leader is exposed to more of a project environment in day-to-day activities and the need for project management skills in addition to functional skills.
 
Even though we will be doing repetitive tasks in a functional area, when we grow up, we only get into more non-repetitive tasks.

 


Typically, in the organization, when you are at a lower level of the hierarchy, say at the executive level, your task may be repetitive. For example, in HR functions, as an executive, processing attendance and payroll are repetitive. When you grow up in the same HR functions and get into managerial positions, your tasks become non-repetitive. The non-repetitive task is the project.
 
For example, as HR head, "recruiting people" is a typical HR activity. It looks like a repetitive task, but it is not. Each recruitment is a new experience, new candidate, new profile, and requirements are different. Expectations of stakeholders like candidates and internal customers are different, and the timeline and cost are fixed.
 
You may relate to any function and managerial position, but you realize that we do non-repetitive tasks only 80 % of the time, even though it looks repetitive.

Whenever any task calls for different scope, timeline, and resource commitment, that is called a project.

When there is a project nature of work,
 there may be uncertainties of success, we need to deal with many stakeholders whose expectations are different, and conflict will be part of it; there is always pressure on meeting timeline and cost aspects.
 
This non-repetitive task or project needs different skills to overcome the challenges. Typical functional expertise alone is not sufficient. There only developing project management skills becomes essential.

To sum up, 
when we go higher up in our career, we will deal with more projects, and project needs different skills to manage the challenges beyond functional skills. The person who learns the project management skill will have more edge in getting things done in the workplace.
 
 Have a great week ahead.

Developing Project Management Skills

 Developing Project Management Skills

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 

 

As we are discussing the ability to get things done under the Execution Excellence series, one of the skills every manager and functional head should develop is the "Project management skill."

What is project management skill?

Project management skills combine hardcore functional/technical skills and softcore skills of interpersonal, proactive, and result-oriented traits and characteristics that will help to get things done.
 
As working professionals, we display functional expertise by using many skills, tools, and techniques. We are reasonably successful in getting things done. When we look at our success as a functional manager, we can see some patterns in it.

Our functional activities are familiar or routine to us.
The environment is safe, and we are comfortable.
Our team is familiar with our functioning style, and we know them very well and know their expectations as stakeholders.


We often deal with routine activities, and familiar stakeholders and the environment are certain. 
 
Hence, getting things done is relatively easy. Functional capabilities are sufficient to get things done.
 
For example,

as a financial head, compiling the bills and making reports related to finance and statutory requirements are relatively easy as it is routine, stakeholders are limited, and they may report directly to the head.

When the finance head is asked to implement an ERP system, he/she needs to work beyond functions to get things done, as stakeholders are beyond functions. They have to manage a cross-functional team with varied expectations; the work is new and uncertain, and most stakeholders do not report to them directly. They must balance people and results and get things done in a cross-functional environment.
 
 In that scenario, 
project management skill becomes essential.
 
Why is project management skill required?


  
When you are growing up in a career, you will be dealing with more than your functional boundary. You have to get things done through the cross-functional team.

Developing project management skills will enhance the capability to look at things from a business perspective, which will help you get into business leadership positions.

Since you can get things done with any stakeholders, your execution skill enhances, and your personal productivity also improves.
 
Let us discuss the following in the coming weeks.
 
*How is project management different from functional management?
*Misconception about project management
*Typical project management principles and skills one has to learn?
*How to develop those skills in the current functional role?
*How do leaders develop project management skills for the team?

 
Have a great week ahead!
 

Saturday 29 July 2023

Summarizing - Art of developing influence

 Summarizing - Art of developing influence 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 

As we have discussed the art of influencing for the last 14 weeks, let us summarise the key learnings.
 
  • While we go up the career ladder, beyond a certain point, we need to get things done beyond our functional boundary, and positional power alone will not help. We need to develop influencing skills to get things done.
  •  We need to be aware of our dominant influencing style (logical, commanding, balancing, or engaging) and be mindful of other person's influencing styles. We need to modify depending on the context and other people's styles. Most workplace problem is due to inflexibility in influencing style.No single style will help in all situations. It is more about awareness. 
  • We can see some patterns in highly influencing people in the workplace. Two things we can learn from them. One is their mindset or thinking pattern, and the other is their behavior or practices to influence others.
Regarding mindset
 
  • They operate with a WIN-WIN philosophy and always look at maximizing their impact and others in every interaction.
  • They will always look at the position with pride and make their body language and tone positive, which helps to influence others easily.
  • They have a high level of clarity of what they want in each interaction/task and operate an outcome-based thinking process.
Regarding practices
  • They put their continuous effort into building their credibility by developing expertise or improving relationships with others.
  • They display respect for others by keenly listening
  • They empower others by outlining the task and not indulging in micro-management, however available when the situation is required for the people
  • They are good at communication, and they are more expressive while explaining the need for the task
  • They will always look for fixing the process than people.
  • They will develop charisma by being authentic in their domain.
 
To summarise, developing the art of influencing takes time and effort. However, the payoff will be high for any professional's growth, and everyone has to invest in it.
 
Have a great week ahead!

Are we fixing processes or people?

  Are we fixing processes or people?

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 

We discussed some of the mindsets of highly influential people in the workplace to get things done. We mentioned win-winhow they look at work, and clarity of what they need.

Regarding practices, influential people work on themselves to build their credibility through relationships and expertise. The second practice is giving others their time, energy, and knowledge. The third practice is displaying respect by listening. The fourth practice is empowering others. The fifth practice is effective communication.

The next practice the people do is "Fixing processes than people." 

What is meant by Fixing processes than people?

It is all about continuously refining the process to avoid mistakes. Whenever a problem happens, look for the gap in the process than in the people.

It is more about process orientation.
 
People with process orientation have high likeability factor than the person who is finding fault with people and trying to fix some people responsible for the problem.

Influencing power or the ability to get things done is enhanced when a high likeability factor exists.

Generally, there are two types of people in the organization. One set of people (Type A), if any problem happens, the momentary reaction would be, "Who mistakes it is?". Their immediate intention would be first to fix the person, then find a solution for the problem.

For the other set of people ( Type B) (fewer in numbers!😊 ), if any problem happens, the momentary reaction would be, "Why this happened, and what needs to be done?". Their immediate intention would be to recognize the problem and look for a suitable process, eventually fixing the people.

As a human being, whom we would like more, Type A or Type B…?

Most of us like Type B people, and this likability factor enhances their influencing power.
 
When we look for the process solution to a problem without fixing people first, we develop compassion towards others, making us highly influential people in the workplace.

I work with one CEO who is soft-spoken and calm; whenever a problem happens, he never loses his temper, fixes the process, and educates the person with more compassion. People never complain about him and like to work with him. Works get done out of respect for him than his power.

Only a few people get this practice right, and they become influencing people.
 
It needs awareness of our reaction to problems and practice fixing the process.
 
Have a great week ahead.

Purposeful communication to get things done

 Purposeful communication to get things done 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 
We discussed some of the mindsets of highly influential people in the workplace to get things done. We mentioned win-win, how they look at work, and clarity of what they need.

Regarding practices, effective people work on themselves to build their credibility through relationships and expertise. The second practice is giving others their time, energy, and knowledge. The third practice is displaying respect by listening. The fourth practice is empowering others.

The next practice the people do is "Effective communication."
 
Effective communication and its relevance:
 
We often discussed the importance of effective communication in this forum for professional growth. From a perspective of influencing and getting things done, communication is one of the critical elements.

Generally, we like people who give clear instructions on what to do than those who do not have clarity in expectation and cannot articulate. This will have a direct impact on the ability to get things done.
One powerful practice that highly influence people do use in their communication process is purposeful communication.

What is purposeful communication?

It is all about communicating with others by outlining the purpose of the task as much as possible than merely saying what you want.
 
For example, you may want to know which material has been consumed more in the last three years to reduce costs.
.
You have two options to communicate to your team to get the details.
 
Option1:
 
"I want consumption data of material for the last three years."
 
Option 2:

 "I want to understand which material is consumed more in the last three years to look for consumption reduction to reduce cost."
 
In both options, you communicate the same. However, in option 2, you elaborate on the purpose, which will give more clarity to team members, and in high probability, they will filter the data with more insights.

The reason is that people like reasoning, and it will give clarity. When clarity is given, the output's speed or quality will be more than in the case of providing simple instruction.
 

When we practice this purposeful communication technique in all interpersonal communication, we subconsciously outline why/ what/ when /who, and how as much as possible, wherever required.
 
The idea is to give clarity to get things done easier than leaving people with ambiguity, reducing the ability to get things done.
 
Experimenting with your next communication to check its effectiveness would be best.
 
 Have a great week ahead!

Empowering others

  Empowering others  

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 


We discussed some of the mindsets of highly influential people in the workplace to get things done. We mentioned win-win, how they look at work, and clarity of what they need.

Regarding practices, influential people work on themselves to build their credibility through relationships and expertise. The second practice is giving others their time, energy, and knowledge. The third practice is displaying respect by listening.

The next practice the people do is 
Empowering others.
 
What is meant by Empowering Others?
 
Empowering is giving power to someone to do something, which makes them feel elated and confident once they have done it.

It consists of Giving macro level direction and guidance when required and backing up when in trouble.

Most of us do not like to be managed with micromanagement. When we experience micromanagement with anyone, we do not like that person much.

One of the surveys tries to discover the qualities of the best-ever bosses in the workplace. The findings reveal that people do not like micro-managing and rate the person as the best boss who empowers them with direction and guidance at an appropriate time.
 
For example, consider the situation. Your boss is asking to send a mail to a customer about recent development in a product.

He gives the overall purpose of email communication, outlines what needs to be included, allows you to draft the mail independently, and backs you on the consequences; then, it is empowerment. In this experience, you feel that you are learning something new and like your boss, and he will easily influence you.
 
Alternatively, if he asks you to send a mail, dictates what needs to be included, and spends time checking line by line, then it is not empowerment; it is just micro-management.In this experience, you may feel undervalued and not like your boss much; in turn, you may not be influenced by him so easily.
 
The point is, by nature, we all want freedom with boundary conditions. 
When we provide an empowering environment and experience to our people, they like us more, and as a reciprocation, they can be influenced relatively easily.
 
Sometimes, due to our anxiety about doing everything perfectly and of losing our reputation due to the mistakes of others, we tend to be more micro-managing, and, in this process, we lose the advantage of the influencing edge.
 
This needs awareness and practicing to balance micro-management and monitoring the progress at a high level. The art of delegation with empowerment is one of the skills every manager and leader has to learn.
 
Have a great week ahead!

Thursday 11 May 2023

Win -Win Mindset

 Win -Win Mindset 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 
As we have discussed the influencing framework/process, we highlighted the importance of being aware of the context/situation. Also, being flexible in the influence style will help to get things done.
 
Now, let us understand more about the mindset, behaviors, and practices that highly influence people to apply when dealing with people and situations. They have never been perceived as commanding, misusing power, or rude, and people love to work with them. They easily get things done in the workplace despite the challenges.

Understanding and practicing those mindsets, behavior, and practices will help you become a high-influencing person in the workplace.
 
One such primary mindset that influences people to operate is a Win-Win mindset.
 
What is a Win-Win mindset?

Win-Win is a state of mind in which we look for mutual benefit in any interaction or business deal.
It is more about being empathetic about another person while focusing on your objective, fair, and flexible in finding a solution that meets both requirements.
 
Influential people ensure that the other person's needs are met in any interaction with others, either a small conversion or significant business deal sign-off.

For example,

You are spending time with one of your colleagues, and after the conversation, if both of them feel good about the interaction, get some value or solution or agreed upon mutual agreement. It is a win-win situation, and both of them win together.

If any of you leaves with an upset mood or gets humiliated or unheard, then there is a possibility of both of you being in a situation of lose-lose or lose-win, and either way, that will not be helpful.
 
In the same way, any business partnership works on a win-win basis only.
 
For example, one product organization signs a partnership agreement with the distributor. The organization has products but needs more marketing and distribution reach to customers. The distributor has access to customers but needs more products. When both sign the deal, they share the mutual value and gain revenue together. That is a win-win.

If anyone feels that the other person is exploiting others, it becomes a win-lose, and the partnership eventually breaks.
 
There is always an argument that it is not possible to have a win-win situation and mindset all the time. If both do not realize a win-win in the long run, the association or deal is not sustainable. In the short term only it works.

We can be in a win-win mindset only when we feel good about ourselves and are optimistic about our outlook. That needs awareness and practice.
 
This win-win concept is underrated, and if we apply it in all interactions and dealings, the ability to get things done will improve.

Based on this fundamental win-win mindset, some behaviors and practices are built upon, and let us discuss them further.
 
Have a great week ahead!

Being flexible in your influencing style

 Being flexible in your influencing style  

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 

Last week we discussed awareness of the situation/context and how our influencing style helps to get things done. The third dimension of the influencing process is understanding the other person's dominant influencing style and being flexible to change our style accordingly.
 
The ultimate purpose of learning influencing skills is to get things done. This will happen only when we are flexible and adaptive to the SITUATION and modify our influencing style.

Consider the following real incidents in which we can learn the impact of flexibility in making things better or worst.

One of the product development organizations has the policy to approve any product proposal only when it meets certain conditions; for example,  ROI must be two years. The product development team put in their best effort and brought the new proposal; however, the ROI was not meeting, say it was three years. The finance head was going by rational and company policy. He insisted on holding the proposal. However, considering the features, the technical and marketing team was optimistic about going ahead. Everyone was right from their standpoint of view. The situation became inconclusive.

Generally, the CEO believes in the engagement type and wants to decide by consensus.
Now he took the lead in convincing the finance head to go ahead with the product development by stating the big picture of the product and its potential to change the company's destiny in the long run. (inspiring influencing). Also, he persuaded other functions to rework the cost and make it attractive. Finally, the project was approved unanimously, and the product changed the company's fortune within three years.
 
Here the key learning is the business head's flexibility to change his influencing type from engaging to inspiring and counter the finance head's rational influencing style. Just imagine, if he had not been flexible enough and firm to make decisions as per the team's decision, the company would have lost the opportunity.

Alternatively, in one of the small firms, the management recruited a senior person from a large corporate where he spent his entire life and believed in getting things done through a commanding influencing style. The family-owned business believes in an engaging type of influencing and involving all the people in important issues to arrive at decisions. The new person is not flexible to change his influencing style, and he soon lost all his teammates' confidence and eventually made exits. Here the problem is rigidity in adopting the same style of influencing.


Changing style depending on the situation and other people's style without hurting relationships is a winning influencing style of effective leaders. Ultimately things need to be executed, and relationship needs to be preserved.
 
The key point is we need to be aware of the situation or context, aware of our influencing style, and have the flexibility to change the style depending on the other' style and situation. That mindset makes us better leaders in getting things done.

Have a great week ahead.

What is your dominant influencing style?

  What is your dominant influencing style? 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)

 
 
Last week, we discussed the Influencing framework and how different situations call for different influencing methods.
Let us understand more about the influencing Style or method
 
We must know our influence style when dealing with others and in different situations.

Influencing Style will have an impact on the RESULT.

Typically we will be using the following influencing Style.
  • Commanding (using authority/ dictating/ directing)
  • Rationalizing ( using logic/data to convince)
  • Engaging ( involving others /collaboration)
  • Inspiring (energizing others with aspirations/values)
  • Balancing-finding middle path ( win-win, alternate solution seeking)

Why do we need to be aware of our influencing Style?

Style determines the outcome or result.  
Style decides our tone and expression.
 
For example,

Imagine a situation in the workplace; as a business head, you need to solve quality issues raised by customers. You have to solve them along with your core team member.

Here the outcome is solving the problem. The solution's speed and quality depend on the influencing Style you choose.
 
You may use any of the following statements depending upon your influencing Style, which will have a different tone and interpretation from others.
 
"I want you to explain to me the reason for the quality problem" (commanding)
"Can you explain the reason for product failure for my understanding and let us find a solution" (Engaging)
"I don't want a reason to hear. solve the problem first" (commanding)
"Why don't you solve the problem ?" ( commanding)
"I think we can solve the problem easily. Let us discuss." (inspiring and engaging)
"5% rejection seems high, and let us resolve this by this week".(rational and inspiring)

 
We may use a different statement for the same situation that conveys a different tone.

What would be the outcome?
 
It now depends on the other person's influencing type with reference to the situation and how they interpret the statement and underlying tone.

The key point to learn is that we need to be aware of our influencing Style and use different influencing types depending on the situation and the other person.

Highly effective people usually use engaging and inspiring types except in urgent and sensitive problems.

Just reflect your dominant influencing Style.

Have a great week ahead.

How does the influencing process work?

 How does the influencing process work? 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 

 

Last week, we discussed the importance of developing Influencing skills at the workplace to get things done.

Despite your strong professional expertise, you will have growth only when you influence others positively to get things done. Positional power will help to some extent only. Hence we need to develop influencing skills.

The first step is understanding our influencing style and context, which i have given in the QUALITY OF INFLUENCE framework. It helps to understand the 
influencing process.



 
In any transaction with others, 
awareness of three factors will help to enhance the quality of getting things done.
 
1. Aware of the situation/context and its impact on you, your function, your organization
2. Awareness of your dominant influencing style, derived voice tone, and expression in terms of the statement
3. Awareness of your counterpart influencing style, derived voice tone, and the expression in terms of the statement


For example,

you want to delegate the PPT presentation preparation ( which you suppose to present to your management) to your junior colleague. They may not be interested in preparing, but you influence them to do it because you are using your commanding authority. Here the context is simple; the beneficiary is yourself, you use a simple commanding style, and your junior colleague gets it done.

In another instance, you must get your travel bill clearance from a finance person, and they are not reporting to you. The beneficiary would be you, and you can not use the commanding style of influence, and your counterpart need not be influenced easily by your style. He may use the rational style of influence, and there would be challenges in getting things done unless you modify your style.

In another instance, with the same finance functions, you need to get the payment release immediately to your vendor. Otherwise, the production line will get stopped. In this situation, you must get things done as soon as possible, and the beneficiary is the organization. You can choose different influencing styles like rational or balancing. You will get things done relatively easier than in the previous cases.
 

The key point is that every situation requires different influencing styles and must match with counterparts.

The awareness of the situation and influencing style of you and your counterpart will help you to be more flexible. However, in reality, as i observed, most people need to be made aware of the context and style as they use the same dominant style in every situation and are stuck in poor execution capability.

Just relate to your recent incident where you succeeded or failed in influencing others, you could see the framework's relevance, and you will get the importance of flexibility in style with context and counterpart.

Let us discuss the style/tone/statement in detail in the next week.

Have a great week ahead.

Developing the art of Influencing

 Developing the art of Influencing 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 
As we discuss Enhancing Execution capabilities in the workplace, we have discussed the relevance of personal leadership for the last 25 weeks. 

The next part of getting things done is learning the art of influencing others. The others could be direct reportees, peers, colleagues, and clients.
 
What is meant by influencing?

Influencing is persuading someone to think or accept our ideas or act the way we want.

It is based on the relationship's quality and respect rather than power or positional status.

Everyone needs this ability when dealing with others at home or in the external world.

God has given us this ability the moment we are born. By crying, the child signals the need for food or care; the mother responds. That is one form of influence, and when we grow, we use different techniques to sell ourselves to others in every moment. However, in some cases, we achieve what we want; in others, we do not.

When our circle of connection enlarges, complexity increases, and we need to learn the art of influence, particularly in the workplace as a professional.
 
Why influencing skills is essential for professionals?
  • Commanding will no longer be effective in today's advancement in the information access environment. In the commanding era, people are looking for knowledge, but today Information or knowledge is available in plenty and quickly. What others want is wisdom or insights, or experience. By which only others are inspired with us. When the inspiration happens, it leads to ease of influence.
  • When growing up in a career, you need to get things done from people beyond your functional boundary, and they need not oblige to meet your expectation unless you inspire them. When you are not inspiring, you can not influence.
  • You might have seen many brilliant, hardworking, and sincere people stuck in their careers at some point in time. One of the reasons could be the lack of influencing skills despite their functional expertise.  
To become successful professionals, we must get things done and deliver results. From that perspective, learning the art of influencing is essential.

In this influencing Series, let us learn the following in the coming weeks

*Framework of influencing
*Human principles and using them to influence
*Proven laws of persuasion  and techniques
*Effective communication on improving influence

 
Have a great week ahead.
 

Sunday 15 January 2023

How to Build Trust in the workplace?

 How to Build Trust in the workplace?   

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)

 


 

Having discussed the definition of Trust in the workplace and its importance in gaining the influencing power to get things done, now let us understand how some effective people build Trust among their colleagues and clients.

As mentioned, building trust is not a one-time activity; it is a continuous effort. An individual must earn it despite being given any positional status or designation.

There is no single path to building Trust. It combines many repetitive behaviors and practices by which we can build Trust in character and competency.

Listed below are some of my observations from effective people whom i admire most for their effort in building Trust. They build Trust over some time and gain respect in their respective field or industry.

Demonstrating consistency:

Being consistent is one of the founding stones for building Trust. We generally do not like uncertainties and prefer certainty as it gives comfort. When someone is consistent in their behavior and does what they say consistently,it gives comfort to trust them.

Would you trust a person who delivers inconsistently in terms of timeline commitment?

Ease of approachability:

A person who is easily approachable either physically or digitally is believed more trustworthy than a person who cannot be easily reachable.

i have observed some people respond to the mail within a day or two, even if they agree or disagree with the content. Some people are disciplined to return the mobile call if they miss it the first time due to being preoccupied with something. That is approachability.

When we deal with those people, we feel the friendliness and enhance Trust.

More focused on business:

They are more focused on business than gossiping and spending time on the nitty-gritty of tasks or petty things. When we deal with those people, we feel secure, and the security feeling enhances Trust.

Admit mistakes and being vulnerable:

They openly admit when they make mistakes to show their confidence in themselves. Some people admit when they do not know the answer to the question than trying to give solutions for everything. That behavior of demonstrating confidence enhances Trust and their solutions.

Connect with care:

They look at the problems from others' views and display empathy for others which enhances Trust.

You may add something more from your experience. 

The point is that the trust-building process combines many efforts and being consistent in our positive behavior. It takes time; however, it is worth building to enhance our influencing power to get things done in the workplace.

Wishing you and your family a happy, healthy, prosperous new year ahead!

Need for Trust Building in a professional environment

 Need for Trust Building in a professional environment  

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)

 
Having discussed the definition of building trust in a professional environment last week, let us understand the need for building trust to get things done.

Trust is an essential evergreen quality in any relationship in the workplace, and it can be between a boss and junior colleagues or among colleagues.

Need for building Trust

1) When we have trust in something or someone, it indirectly enhances influencing power to get things done.

For example, when we want to purchase something online, we prefer AMAZON over any other new, unknown e-commerce portal. We have more trust in the amazon brand, which influences the transaction ( things getting done).

In the same way, if we trust someone ( they earned their trust from us), they have more power over us to get things done.

The point is to influence anyone in the professional environment; the primary ingredient is building trust in character, competency, or both.

2) And today's change in the working environment calls for influencing rather than commanding, which indirectly demands trust building. 

The workplace relationship is changing from commanding to inspiring to get things done.

The change could be due to social changes, affordabilities, and opportunities compared to the past. Earlier, people look up to someone for knowledge, information, age, and experience they possess. Now with the abundance of information available thanks to digital evolution and humungous opportunities across the world for survival and growth, people are no more looking up to someone for the reason stated above.

Instead, people are now looking up to someone for their wisdom, insights, mentoring, or solution-providing capabilities for specific challenges. When someone demonstrates consistently, trust is built, and they become inspired and an influencer. They can get things done relatively easier than others.
 
For any one-time transaction or short-term benefits, commanding or pushing may help to get things done. Building trust is required if you are looking for a long-term association, positively influencing others to get things done, and peaceful transaction between you and others.

You shall deserve yourself as a person to look up to only when you develop yourself and you are proven as "TRUSTED "by your colleagues or networks.

In the above context, trust-building becomes essential.

Let us discuss the approaches for developing trust-building next week.
 
Have a great week ahead.