How The Best Employees Influence Without Authority To Get Things Done

In today's work environment, companies need employees to be effective at their tasks, contribute to others' performance, and use others' contributions to improve their performance. The work environment has fundamentally changed how employees must perform. These shifts in the workplace include:

• Increases in remote work and hybrid teams
• The number of colleagues, employees, and stakeholders that work across multiple time zones, and cultures
• Matrixed reporting complicates roles, authorities, and workflow
• Projects that require multiple perspectives and expertise for effective decision making
• Work that requires more collaboration from experts, stakeholders, and teams

For organizations to succeed, they need employees that can complete tasks that require building relationships and influencing others.

4 Practices To Influence Without Authority To Get Things Done

1) Find Common Ground

The most common reason for conflict at work is misaligned goals. Taking the time to find common ground is the foundation for working effectively with others. People will almost always have different perspectives about any complex situation that requires their collaboration for success. Asking open-ended questions to understand how others perceive the work at hand is a critical first step for finding shared meaning for working together. Below are some example questions you can ask to understand better other's motivation and meaning:

• Is this a significant issue/opportunity for you?
• What would success look like for you?
• What will you gain if this is successful?
• What do I not understand?

Finding a common issue, goal, or opportunity helps to create shared meaning and value for a successful working relationship.

NOTE: There are times when people or groups cannot find common ground for working together for one of the following reasons.

1. The context of the situation does not allow for a win/win - For one individual or group to win, the other group must lose or take less.
2. Misaligned priorities – Stakeholders see the value but not at a level of importance to invest their time and resources.

These are the situations when you will agree to disagree and walk away with additional insights for how to succeed differently, or you may mutually agree to escalate the decision to collaborate with a higher-level authority within the organization.

2) Demonstrate A "We" Perspective

Have you ever wondered why some people have more influence than others? It is because they invest more in relationships with others. Those with the most influence almost always have the strongest relationships.

Do the people you interact with to get work done believe that you understand and have their best interests at heart, or do they feel you are leveraging the situation for selfish gain? Trust will remain low if others see you focusing only on your interests. To build trust, you must approach working with others with a self-orientation of "we" versus "me."

To establish a "We" perspective, you must regularly ask two types of questions:

𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗧𝗼 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿' 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀: Taking the time to ask questions demonstrates that you understand you do not have all the information and value input from others to make effective decisions.

• What is working? / What is not working?
• What do I need to understand better?
• What does success look like? / How important is this to you?
• How are you doing during this challenging time?

𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗧𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: The transition to generating solutions is the most satisfying part of the conversation because you can partner with others to develop viable solutions.

• What are your ideas for the next steps?
• What is the biggest obstacle, and how can we overcome it?
• What support do you need from me and others?
• What actions should we plan to take next?

Taking the time to ask questions does not stop you from sharing your perspectives about the situation; it just means you choose to ask questions and understand others' views before sharing your own.

3) Ask Higher-Quality Questions

Too often, people mistakenly assume that we gain influence by showing that we have the correct answers. This can be counter-intuitive because, in many situations, we get rewarded for having the answers. The truth is you will never develop relationships and influence others by being more right; you do it by showing you care.

Our primary tool for demonstrating empathy to others is our willingness and ability to ask higher-quality questions. Below are tips for how to ask higher-quality questions.

𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗧𝗼 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲: Can you see the judgment in the questions below?

• Why haven't you….
• Why do you always…
• Don't you know better than…
• Have you thought about…

𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻-𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: The way you construct a question can make a critical difference in either opening minds or narrowing possibilities. The best questions tend to be how, what, and why questions because they are broader and invite more input.

𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗨𝗽 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Asking follow-up questions helps others share their best thinking, perspectives, and insights. Questions like "Tell me more" or "What else were you thinking" signal that you are listening, care, and want to know more.

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱: Effective paraphrasing clarifies understanding before moving forward with the conversation. Examples include:

• If I hear you correctly, you are saying…
• Let me make sure I understand; I hear you saying that…

4) Deliver Results

I often see articles and posts focusing solely on the relational aspects of being an effective employee (kindness, empathy, listening, understanding, etc.) but not giving equal weight to the importance of delivering results. To build relationships and gain influence, people must believe you can and will get the job done. Consistency is an essential part of reliability. Be someone others can rely on to get the job done.

When you deliver on your commitments, trust is built. Establishing clear responsibilities, next steps, and timelines allows people to count on each other, whether meeting deadlines or fulfilling duties.

Conclusion

You will only be successful at influencing others when you understand that a person's need to be heard and understood is more important than satisfying your need to impart wisdom. Building your influence is about developing a solid network of trusting relationships. The most productive and sought-after employees will be those who focus on continually evolving their abilities to influence others effectively.