The Influencing Formula

  Career Development   New Practitioners   Stakeholder Management   ProjectsAtWork  

Project managers may not have formal authority, but they can develop certain types of power and can use it to influence stakeholders, sponsors and other key players. This power relies on building trust, knowing what your talking about, and having the courage to recommend the right things.

We often get asked, “How can I get stakeholders to attend my meetings?” or “How can I get stakeholders’ buy-in on the project?” These are complex questions and the easy answer is that you can’t. That’s right, you can’t. As project managers we can’t get anyone to do anything, but we can certainly influence them so that they want to.

Similarly, I hear business analysts complain that they are given a solution and don’t believe that they can step back and take the time to understand the business need. I’m told “Who am I to argue with the sponsor?” or “In our organization they shoot the messenger.”

How can we effectively influence when we have no authority to do so? I believe that there is an influence “formula” that includes building trust, being prepared, and having an overabundance of courage, and if we have those three ingredients, we will be able to exert a great deal of influence in our organizations. I will explore each of these concepts in future articles.

Terms, terms, and …

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