Five Tips to Improve Your Influence In Meetings
We've all been there. We get into a meeting excited to share our thoughts and ideas and before we know it we've been railroaded into doing things the same way we've been doing them, without even getting a chance to share our ideas. Research show that over 80% of employees report feeling as if they do not have a voice at work.
How would it feel if you were able to walk into a meeting and actually feel heard? Even better, what if you pitch your ideas and then saw them being implemented? Here are five tips that will help you capture the attention of your audience and increase your influence at the workplace.
Leverage Data: When challenging the stats quo, or suggesting changes, it is imperative to provide supporting data. This data should support your position. For example, if you are pitching an idea to implement a new process to reduce the rate of errors, provide benchmark data, such as the current error rate under the existing process, and the projected decrease your suggested process will yield. Anecdotal feedback is a valuable compass to help point you in the right direction. However, when presenting your suggestions to stakeholders and decision makers, empirical data is needed to properly understand the scope and impact.
Consider Organizational Priorities: Many organizations have a roadmap that sets their priorities for the year. These roadmaps are typically divided into quarters to create a more manageable workload. By understanding these priorities you will be able to share how your recommendations support the over-arching priorities of the organization. For example, if a priority for the organization is to reduce cost, highlighting how your solution would reduce the need for "X" amount of labor hours, would strengthen your pitch.
Socialize Your Ideas: Sharing your ideas and suggestions with others is a great way to gain additional insights and suggestions. Perhaps there are additional considerations that you are not aware of [unknowns]. By socializing your ideas, you main gain some additional insights that you can leverage to strengthen your pitch. You can also gain support for your ideas along the way.
Practice Active Listening: It can be challenging to quiet all the distractions when in meetings. Often times we find ourselves trying to manage emails and instant messages from our teams while trying to keep up with the meeting agenda. While providing your team support is important, not being fully present in meetings may cause you to miss critical details that could indicate company priorities and how your suggestions could support those priorities.
Be Open to Compromise: When trying to reach a solution, avoid an "all or nothing mindset". Look for common ground and opportunities for win-win solutions. By showing that the priorities of others are important to you, you can start to gain buy-in from folks with conflicting priorities and arrive at a win-win solution.
As you start to put these tips into practice, you will find that your influence will start increase. People will want to hear more of what you have to say, and be more open to trying your data-driven recommendations.