Influence Teams
Manager’s ability to communicate with the team plays an important role on how manager effectively influence the group. However, Inspiring cooperation, gaining truths, and providing constructed feedback will help persuade team members in understanding their objectives and address the differences in attitudes, emotions, and personalities.
Member Role Clarity
Team members should have a clear understanding of each person obligations and responsibilities and willing to cooperate with others in the team in obtaining the objectives. Therefore, managers can influence the team by clearly explaining each member his or her responsibilities, providing positive feedback, and training when appropriate. When teams understand what needs to be completed or accomplish, they respond to the demand and take the necessary actions to achieve the goals identified by the managers or leaders of the team.
Motivation and Performance
Motivation and performance in a team is gear by meeting the basics needs of the team and ensuring all members have the necessary tools and equipment to do their jobs. Ensuring members are aware of the benefits they provide to the group will increase morale and performances. However, when there is a conflict the team leader should have a process to address disagreements. Therefore, leader can implement a majority vote, discuss the topic until all members are content with the outcome, or have a plan in place to discuss conflicts before the disagreement is identify.
Positive influence
Providing positive influence as a direct impact on how a person approaches an individual as well the involvement and participating provided by an individual in a given task. The following provides 10 of the effective ways in influencing people:
Legitimizing - show people that what you want is consistent with policy and procedures and refer to requests or directives of management.
Logical Persuading - use logic or evidence to explain or justify a position and rely on knowledge or expertise to present factual reasons supported by charts, graphs, and data as proof.
Appealing to Friendship - rely on friendships, loyalty, or past relationships to get what you want.
Socializing - behave in a warm and friendly manner in order to influence strangers to cooperate.
Consulting - appeal to the person’s expertise, ask for input, probe for feedback, collaborate, and invite the person to participate or become involved.
Stating - make a direct statement of need or opinion. Be confident, certain and positive.
Appealing to Values - inspire cooperation by making an appeal to a person’s values, emotions or feelings.
Modeling - inspire people to behave in a certain way by setting an example.
Exchanging - give something of value to influence an individual in return for what you want.
Alliance Building - get a group together to accomplish a common goal that could not be completed by another person (Cottrill, 2008).
Team attitudes, emotions, personalities, and values
Developing and understanding differences in personalities, learning, and thinking styles are useful when a leader is improving his or her knowledge of the different groups. However, the team personality, emotions, attitudes, and values directly affect how a manager can influence the behavior of his or her team.
Consequences
When team’s members do not have common values, and their attitude do not a line with the objectives of the organization manager cannot effectively influence group in positive way. Therefore, it is important to use values that support the purpose of the team and not value that appeal to individual preferences. Table 1 shows an example of desirable and undesirable behavior that influences team behavior.
Team Behaviors
Note. From the website Winning Teams
Conclusion
Providing team members with a clear objective, understanding team dynamics, and inspiring cooperation and truths, allows managers to influence team’s commitment. Preparing a process to address conflict with different personalities and behaviors will help the team move forward in meeting the objectives and increase productivity.
References
Cottrill, C. (2008, July). Ten positive ways to influence people. Retrieved from http://www.wincanada.org/blog/archives/ten-positive-ways-to-influence/
Team Technology. (1995). Team Dynamics. Retrieved from http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/team-dynamics.html
Winning Teams. (n.d.). Team Values and Behaviors. Retrieved from http://www.winningteams.co.uk/Team-Values.html