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Influence Without Authority

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To influence without authority is the art of convincing people of your vision, even if they consider you to be a junior employee or a less experienced PM.

To influence without authority is the art of convincing people of your vision, even if they consider you to be a junior employee or a less experienced PM.

Also, leading without a title also comes down to creating an impact without authority. People are always curious about how to lead.

Hopefully, this article provides a better perspective. Also, this is irrespective of the title. You may be a Product Owner or a Project Manager, but you should still know how to create an impact. This is also a good time to make sure we remember the following –

Scenarios – Influence Without Authority

In a professional setting, we need to respectfully deal with a lot of stakeholders. Some are senior to us, some are junior to us, while others are our peers.

Additionally, people come from a variety of backgrounds, including engineering, sales, etc. When learning to influence without authority, there is no one size fits all. I’ve described in detail below the best ways to influence different types of people.

To influence without authority is the art of convincing people of your vision, even if they consider you to be a junior employee or a less experienced PM.

Are you a manager without authority? Join the club. Leading without authority or managing without authority is one of the most common pain points for many managers. Make sure you know all the must have skills for a Product Manager.

Let us go over some influence management examples.

How To Lead – Developers

Listen first, talk later. The number one complaint most developers have is that the Product Manager simply does not listen to them. It may not be true, but it’s a matter of perception.

Our developers are not out there talking to the business team or to other product people, they are only talking to us. Therefore, we are their only source of information about the product. We tell them what features need to go and what need not. Learn to use tools like Jira.

Let’s say we want to prioritize feature A over feature B (call it logic 1). Sometimes, our developers may not agree with us. Based on their understanding of the code, they may recommend feature B over feature A (call it logic 2).

Keep an open mind. Hear them out. Not superficially, but genuinely understand their point of view.

We will not be able to convince others of our logic until we fully understand their logic.

Write down the pros and cons of both logic 1 and logic 2 on a whiteboard.

Brainstorm and talk through the pros and cons. If the developers feel that there is an issue with feasibility, do a small POC (proof of concept).

But remember, while being accommodative, a PM also needs to be decisive.

At the end of the day, the Product Manager is responsible for taking decisions that determine the success of the product. In most of the situations, we will be able to convince our development team. In the rare scenarios where we are not, it generally comes down to 1-2 developers who feel strongly about their logic. Talk to them separately (not in front of other developers) and make them realize that we have to do what is best for the product.

Once we know all our features, remember to use Kanban or Scrum –

Influence Management- Business Team

Think like them. What are they currently trying to do? Are they trying to launch a new prouct to take on the competition? Are they trying to pivot to a new line of products?

First understand their priorities and then you can find the correct language to make them come around to your way of thinking. Business teams are actually easy to convince. They are looking for ideas on how to make the product better. Being product agnostic helps.

If you are able to come up with good ideas that enhances the products and improves your company’s market position, your Business Team would not want anything else.

And remember to follow the KISS principle.

Leading Without A Title – Your Boss

Does your idea make your boss look good in front of their boss? There is only one right answer here.

Everybody has a boss. If you report directly to the CEO, they will have the company’s board to answer to. And the company’s board is ultimately responsible to the company’s shareholders.

Learn what makes Warren Buffet such a gifted leader.

Everybody has a boss. If you report directly to the CEO, they will have the company's board to answer to. And the company's board is ultimately responsible to the company's shareholders.

Nobody is asking you to say “Yes” to everything. Far from it, you are being told to say “No” if it makes your boss look good.

Let us say you and your boss are in discussion around the future enhancements to a product. You have a point of view and your boss has a different point of view.

So, the key here is to keep on asking “Why” till either you are convinced that your boss is right or you are convinced that your idea is not workable.

There are no egos here.

Only the success of the product matters.

Having said that, it is true that sometimes you will not be able to convince your boss despite your best efforts.

That’s ok. Maybe we are not able to see something that our boss knows from experience

Everyone needs to pick their battles, and then ask the “Why”. Also, it is good to have a strategy in place (like Google’s OKR Strategy).

Leading Without Authority – Other Product Managers

The only thing Product Managers understand is data. Make sure you have data to back you up.

Data can include any number of metrics, churn rate, customer acquisition cost, customer satisfaction, brand social engagement, etc. The list is endless.

The only thing Product Managers understand is data. Make sure you have data to back you up.

We may have an intuitive feeling about a particular feature or an enhancement.

Intuition is good, but, back it up with solid data.

Do your A/B testing, do your heatmap analysis, or any other analysis that you like, but your intuition can only take you so far. This is one of the reasons that makes Elon Musk such a good Product Manager.

Influence Without Authority Summary

Finally, influencing without authority all comes down to commuication – so make sure you learn how to communicate like a Product Manager. Also, there are many online resources for influence without authority trainings and courses.

Basically, your job as a PM is to create an impact without authority. As with everything else, the more you practice, the better you will become at this. You can also check out the Influence Without Authority book by Allan Cohen and David Bradford.

Bonus – Learn how to manage products during times when people are working from home.