Taking People Along: Managing by Persuasion

Ever found it difficult to implement changes in your workforce because of resistance from your team? Or found yourself agreeing to a plan that you know is not going to work, but could not convince your peers of the pitfalls lying ahead? These are commonplace situations which all of us face in one form of the other, regardless of our industry, organisation or function. And this is where persuasion comes in.

In an organisational setting, we rarely work alone. We constantly engage with various stakeholders, both internal and external. Research shows that it is not only intelligence and expertise that helps us succeed; persuasion and other communication skills are quite often the key differentiating factors between success and failure.

As a leader, manager, or entrepreneur, you employ persuasion tactics regularly in your day-to-day functioning. You juggle multiple relationships with varied stakeholders who play a key role in your work, but over whom you wield limited power. By now, you would have developed your own style of persuasion in your interaction with these stakeholders mostly through your personal experiences. Would you now like to systematically review, analyze and enhance your skills? Tailor it for different levels of audiences – peers, subordinates and top management? Refine it according to the medium and scope of communication? If yes, then this is the programme for you.

Objectives

The programme is designed to hone persuasive skills at two levels – individual level and organisational level. At the individual level, we will reintroduce you to different elements of persuasion and influence, to help enhance your interpersonal skills. At the organisational level, we will help you understand how different styles of persuasion work for different organisations, cultures, and relationships. The best form of people management in organizations is built on persuasion – when people go along with you willingly. This is no cakewalk; there will usually be resistance. But if they go along willingly, you can concentrate on achieving your goals without wasting your time worrying about sabotage or backstabbing.

Programme Highlights

These five days will help you master the right persuasion tactics for different situations and contexts so that you are able to:

Identify powerful tenets and principles of persuasion

• Use appropriate persuasive communication for

  • Trusted, long-term relationships
  • Upward, downward and lateral relationships
  • Interactions with strangers or acquaintances
  • Crisis situations and times of uncertainty

• Resist persuasive communication tactics