Influencing skills

In modern, matrix-structured organisations, positions of authority and power cannot be used to effect business decisions. In addition, there is the challenge of working with different hierarchical structures found in different cultures in the international working environment. In these circumstances, the ability to 'influence’ can become a valuable tool to help get tasks completed.

In the pharmaceutical industry, it is often necessary to interact with cultural teams working across different geographical boundaries. Ensuring staff are able to influence is arguably one of the most valuable skills that can be acquired in today’s international working environment.

To develop people who will succeed in an international trading environment and provide them with the preparation they need to become effective are considerable challenges and organisations often underestimate the training investment required to ensure such transactions go smoothly.

This is because, as well as organisational structural challenges, staff often operate in situations in which they will be expected to interact, manage, negotiate and even live and work effectively as individuals and in teams with people whose values, beliefs, languages, customs and business practices are very different from their own. It is also an environment where relationships are all-important and where misunderstandings can lead to costly mistakes and even business failures.

However, the fact is that few organisations now use their positional power to achieve business objectives and make changes. Senior managers continue to set the strategy and goals, but these are now achieved through using influence and consensus, rather than because of the individual manager’s position within the organisation. Indeed, managers now need to influence a wide variety of people. These may be colleagues within their division, the wider organisation or beyond, including external partners and suppliers.

Many may be geographically distant, come from different backgrounds and cultures and may not necessarily have exactly the same goals, objectives or perspectives. As a result, it is vital that managers and staff in other key roles are equipped with the skills and techniques needed to build and maintain those relationships. However, most companies fail to formalise the process to allow staff to learn these key influencing skills in an intercultural context.

It is an environment where relationships are all-important and where misunderstandings can lead to costly mistakes

The rise of the matrix management structure has further highlighted the need for influencing skills, as organisations have replaced silo-based, hierarchical chains of command with flat, matrix structures. Managers now have multiple reporting lines or few discernable, direct reporting lines.

As a result, staff can have one line manager coupled with several other dotted reporting lines. Line managers may also be based in a different geographical location and come from an unfamiliar culture. For this type of matrix to be successful, it is vital that both parties understand and can use influence and negotiation techniques to handle multiple, and sometimes conflicting, objectives and targets.

Matrix structures can be highly effective, particularly for complex projects or change management programmes which involve multi-disciplinary teams. However, to achieve the optimum results, the overall project managers need to be excellent influencers, as few will have any positional power. Without these skills, they simply cannot 'make it happen’ as they need to build the relationships that influence their colleagues first to ensure a successful outcome.

Similarly, the rise of global pharmaceutical organisations that employ widely distributed teams, from different backgrounds and cultures, to market and manage their services, also demand team leaders with outstanding influencing skills. The diversity of staff means that the virtual team manager has to take a different approach. Given the geographical and cultural diversity of the team, a traditional 'command’ management style will not be effective. Within this kind of virtual team, all members need to be able to influence both the leader and other team members.

Successful influencers have the skills to build and maintain relationships across different cultures. In such diverse teams, it is also vital that everyone understands the need and benefits of influencing remotely and the most appropriate ways to achieve their own goals without alienating or offending team members. For example, while email is quick and easy, it may not always be the most effective way of communicating; a poorly drafted email intended to defuse a situation can have the opposite effect.

Successful Influencing
Using influence as a management tool is not, in fact, new. It has its roots in the late 1940s when post-war managers wanted more democratic, inclusive management styles, which encouraged participation and involvement. In the intervening years, research studies revealed that most managers were continually in situations where influencing others was the only way that they could achieve success or satisfaction.

Research also showed that the majority of managers were motivated by achievement, power, affiliation, prestige or status: if a manager’s environment constantly invoked the power motive, then training programmes which equipped him to use it effectively meant that he used influence in a positive way.

Since then, many major organisations, including Pfizer, have recognised that influence could improve the way that their Europe-wide product teams function. Pfizer has also accepted that developing a wider range of influence approaches, and combining these with advanced negotiation techniques, is a vital skill set for the Key Account Managers (KAM) whose performance has a high impact on the business.

This is particularly the case when building and maintaining the relationships that underpin negotiations with buyers representing national health services across Europe. This work can present KAM with challenging pricing demands and difficult negotiations. Workshop practice develops skills in the planning of negotiation tactics, introduces ways to optimise negotiating strengths and in-depth work on achieving win-win outcomes that develop lasting relationships to maximise future business results.

It is essential that any pharmaceutical company looking to develop or strengthen staff influencing skills first understands the existing influencing style and behaviours that are currently in use in different situations. This is particularly so in an international environment when different nationalities and cultures are involved, when communication issues can arise and problems are often magnified.

Organisations, including Pfizer, have recognised that influence could improve the way that their Europe-wide product teams function

One way to achieve knowledge of influencing and intercultural awareness is to encourage staff to complete an extensive self-assessment process. Assessments can vary considerably in length and detail, but the most effective are based on the work of Roger Harrison and David Berlew, two of influence training’s founding fathers. They determined that the way people influence is based on four types of behaviour: persuading, asserting, bridging and common vision. While one of these behaviours will be dominant, managers also use the other three elements in varying degrees as they seek to influence an outcome.

Organisations that run such programmes also provide the facility for initial self-assessment. These programmes are focused on self-directed learning, where the resources of the programme and of participants can be applied to creative practicing of desired skills in a real-world context.

Typically underused skills, which often need to be developed, include acquiring the ability and understanding to balance Assertive behaviours (your agenda) and Responsive behaviours (the other party’s agenda). These are fundamental to successful negotiation.

Research also suggests that by drawing on influence techniques, successful negotiators can use the SOP (Soft On the Person), HOP (Hard On the Point) model very effectively. This shows that in negotiations where there is a good relationship (SOP), a manager can be tougher on the specifics of the negotiation (HOP) to ensure a win-win outcome.

The reverse is also true; if the relationship is weak, it is likely that a manager will make more concessions, leading to an unsatisfactory outcome.
Spending time learning how to adjust personal responses and achieve the necessary clarity of communication to work together productively is therefore a key part of improving overall influencing skills.

Workshops on influence and international negotiation aimed at key relationship managers and international sales teams within multicultural and multinational organisations are available from specialist training organisations. They focus on practical, work-based activities to develop and strengthen the sophisticated influencing and negotiating skills needed to operate effectively in a global economy.

The Author
Jeff Toms is marketing and client services director at Farnham Castle