Get a Commitment

Some days it’s all about influence. You must influence your direct reports to reach a certain level of performance. You must influence others to see your way of thinking. You even have to influence your boss to give you the resources to implement your ideas.But that’s easier said than done, especially if you go about it the way many people do: by making demands.

Let’s imagine that you need your direct reports to pump out a large volume of work in a short period of time because your boss suddenly gives your department additional duties. If you do what many managers do in this situation, you call your team together and say something such as, “Okay guys, the boss has given us more work; therefore, we have no choice. Suck it up and get it done.”

You’re not proactively influencing or managing anybody. You’re simply making demands. Consequently, you’re at the mercy of other people’s whims. If the other department or your direct reports decide to derail your train, they can do it in a heartbeat.

Picture a team trying to come up with a strategy or solve a problem. Whose ideas do team members typically like the best? Each person thinks he or she has the right answer, but unfortunately, all the others think they have the right answers too.

A collaborative team however, knows that the right answer is not always the best answer. The best answer is the one that everyone can commit to. This doesn’t mean that everyone has to agree in a unanimous way. Team members just need to commit.

Getting people to commit requires dialogue and an opportunity for all team members to feel their opinions are heard. Getting people to commit is easier when others see their ideas reflected in the solution and when people see how the solution benefits them.

Get people committed by incorporating their interests – incorporate their interests by using the Five Questions method.

Give them a try.  Let us know how they work for you.  After all, what have you got to lose?

Download the Five Questions in our Commitment Breakthrough Tool at www.CollaborationBreakthrough.com.

Buy our Amazon #1 Best Seller, The Collaboration Breakthrough at www.CollaborationBreakthrough.com.