Enclaria: Influence Change at Work

Equipping individuals and teams to influence organizational change

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99 Ways to Influence Change, #99: Offer incentives

Incentives are a source of extrinsic motivation – meaning the source of the motivation is coming from outside an individual.   If you achieve a goal or perform at a certain level, then you will get something extra besides your pride and self-satisfaction.  Offer incentives to reinforce the motivation to change.

Some of the types of incentives you might offer are:

  • Money:  Cash, gift cards, bonuses
  • Merchandise:  Clothing, trinkets, other physical items
  • Events:  Parties, ceremonies, travel
  • Awards:  Certificates, plaques

Because the psychology of motivation can be tricky, incentives often have unintended consequences.  Make sure your incentive is in sync with the result or behavior you want to motivate.  Avoid creating awards that conflict with stated values or goals.  And remember, not everyone is motivated by the same thing.

What incentives might you offer?

Read more of the 99 Ways to Influence Change.

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99 Ways to Influence Change, #98: Communicate

No change initiative can occur successfully without proper internal communication.  Messages are conveyed to audiences with the purposes of keeping the people informed and mobilizing the organization for change.  Communication is a means to gain attention, educate, and get individuals and groups to take action to move the change initiative forward.

When it comes to communication about change, you often hear things like “You can’t over-communicate!” or “Communicate seven times, seven different ways!”  It seems like you should unleash a veritable tidal wave of information at people.  Instead, I offer that you want to create a focused collection of messages that tell a compelling story of change.  You need a communication plan that:

  • Gets the appropriate message to the right person so they do something with it
  • Ensures consistency between media and messengers
  • Overcomes the rapidly increasing amount of information that distracts employees from your message
  • Communicates enough, in quantity and content, to impart the message effectively.

We often think of internal communication as official items like newsletters, intranet, videos, or all-hands meetings.  But, it also includes more informal meetings and conversations.  The most influential internal communication source is the immediate boss of each person.

What might you communicate?

Read more of the 99 Ways to Influence Change.

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99 Ways to Influence Change, #97: Harness peer pressure

The urge to conform to a group norm is powerful.  When implementing change, this force can work against you, since no one wants to step out and break the unspoken rules.  But, it can also be used to get people to work by a new set of norms as well.  To influence change, harness peer pressure.

One way to harness peer pressure is to be very deliberate and open about it.  Within a group, explicitly agree on the new way of acting, and commit to a group response when someone strays from the new way.  Encourage members of the group to hold each other accountable.

As a facilitator, you can use it more subtly.  For example, if you have a couple of members of a team that are not completing their tasks on time, start the meeting with updates from those who have completed theirs first.  It will be more evident to the slackers that everyone else is performing their part.

Similarly, you can introduce a new person to an existing group that has already adopted a new behavior.  The group will indoctrinate the new person naturally.  Once they are done, you can rotate in someone else until everyone is on board with the program.

How might you harness peer pressure?

Read more of the 99 Ways to Influence Change.