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How to go about influencing people across different functions and teams?

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4 Answers
Stakeholder Management
  1. Lane Shackleton
    Lane Shackleton

    Coda Chief Product Officer • 4y

    Few tips here. First, build trust before you need it. It’s so important to build these relationships before you need to test them. Grab coffee, lunch, ask about people’s family life, etc. If you’re able to build a foundation of trust before you need to influence a different team, you’ll find it’s much easier than starting that relationship cold. Second, understand their priorities. It sounds obvious but you’ve got to start by putting yourself in their shoes. There are some easy ways to do this. ...Read More

    561 Views
  2. Linh Lam
    Linh Lam

    Lattice Group Product Manager • 4y

    Influencing people across different functions and teams is very similar to what I outlined under the question "How do you manage peopel who don't necessarily report to you?" This includes things like:

    • Get an understanding of the team and what they care about
    • Involve them early and often 
    • Be respectful of their time
    • Provide context on where you're coming from 
    1,013 Views
  3. Roshni Jain
    Roshni Jain

    Volley VP of Product • 1y

    The best way to do this is to start with building a good relationship. Get to know them as a human, show interest, and share who you are as a person as well. Be proactive and schedule time - use it to ask for their opinion on your work and get feedback - people love sharing their perspective and being asked for feedback and it's a great way to start building trust. Understand their goals and find ways to make their job or life easier. Getting these wins will show your competence and care and are ...Read More

    495 Views
  4. Casey Flinn
    Casey Flinn

    OEConnection Head of Global Product Operations • 3y

    It's often overlooked, but I believe it all starts with being genuinely interested in other people's perspectives. The more diversity you can include in your thought process the better the output will be. And in a culture where the "best idea wins," this sets you up for success because there is a lot of research that shows the best ideas start with the most diverse inputs. People want to feel like their opinions matter and that they are being heard. Being genuinely interested is a way to demonst ...Read More

    522 Views

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