Feb 17, 2010
Here's the situation... you're responsible for
delivering a project. Your boss comes in today and
announces that senior management has decided that you must deliver
your project 4 weeks earlier than originally planned.
You know that the project is already carrying a lot of
risk, and cutting 4 more weeks seems completely unrealistic, at
least from your perspective. Yet it also appears, from
your perspective, that speaking up or pushing back could be job
risking. They aren't looking for your input--they're looking for
you to deliver on the demand.
Sound familiar?
Whether you are a project manager or responsible for
leading a team, we are regularly faced with situations that require
us to influence others. Yet here's my observation:
influence skills are one of the most under-trained areas for many
people today. It's almost as if we think influence training is for
salespeople or lawyers or "those people over in procurement."
We all can benefit from developing our influence
skills. One of my favorite influence books in the last
couple years is entitled
Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive. I had the
opportunity recently to speak with the co-author of Yes!, Steve
Martin, and look forward to your feedback on the interview in this
cast. By the way, you'll hear Steve share his thoughts on how to
deal with that boss with unrealistic timeframes!
A practical next step to develop your influence skills is
to get a copy of the book that Steve authored with Robert Cialdini
and Noah Goldstein:
Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive. Also,
check out Dr. Cialdini's classic:
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
Thanks for joining us for this episode of The People
and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!