Yesterday I successfully persuaded my (new!) boss …

29th September, 2011 - Posted by stellacollins - No Comments

People usually enjoy a days training, which is satisfying for all concerned, but we always explain that unless people take away their new knowledge or skills and practise them at work, hopefully supported by their managers, then they have wasted their time and money. To support our participants we update them with new information and challenges for 3 months after a workshop – whether it’s an in-house course for a company or one of our open programmes at Harwell or Milton Park – so the training extends beyond the one day of attendance, providing better value for all.

Consciously reflecting on what you’ve learned helps you recall the information and acknowledge the strides in your development. One challenge is to ask people to tell us how they are applying what they learned and the difference it’s made. We were delighted when Frances, who’d been on a Persuasion workshop, kindly took the time to tell us about what she’d been inspired to do.

Here’s her story in her own words:

‘I have been realising in the last week or two how useful your workshop has been. I think the biggest things that I actually took away and am now much more aware of are:

-    Body language, facial expressions, voice tone and mirroring. I am much more observant in meetings and conversations (especially one to one) and try to use my body language to reflect what I am trying to get across. I have used mirroring and opening up my body language effectively, particularly in trying to network and be more engaging. I think it really works!
-    Questioning – I am more careful of how I phrase questions and in trying to think what I am trying to achieve, both in group settings and one to one. I am also working on being more aware of what battles to fight.
-    Listening and trying for a win:win result – yesterday I successfully persuaded my (new!) boss that I wanted to do a different experimental route to that which he initially wanted me to do – I used body language, voice, listening, gave him structured evidence and finally used consensus in thoughts of others. I feel that he was happy with the outcome as well as me. I was totally made up with myself!
-    Networking, especially as a support mechanism for difficult situations.

I am in the process of reading ‘How to win friends and influence people’ by Dale Carnegie – I picked it up at a jumble sale! I also have your notes to hand for re-reading and I will also continue practising all these skills I have learned with enthusiasm!

Thanks for your email, it has been a helpful reminder. I hope you are getting a lot of satisfaction by finding out how much you have helped.’

That’s the sort of email that makes all our work worthwhile – thank you Frances!

If you’d like to find out how to structure your communication to persuade your boss, or other colleagues, you’ve still just got time to book for a Powerful Persuasion Workshop on 19th October at Harwell Innovation Centre. Even if you can’t join us you can download a report with 8 short articles to help you be more persuasive.

You can also book for the Improve Your Writing workshop on 18th October because you need to persuade in writing too and you’ll save an additional £150!