When it comes to presenting your ideas, speaking one language is not enough.
You need to be able to motivate a variety of people to your cause – each with their own priorities and agendas.
A painter is able to focus solely on their vision, not thinking about anybody else’s perspective. You’ll need support throughout the organisation to bring your idea to life.
There’s one way of speaking to get the frontline employees onside and a totally different approach for the managers. Your challenge is to find a way of communicating with all the relevant groups, while remaining consistent.
Take managers.
Managers say they like great ideas, but what they really care about is doing their jobs well. Which often means making the company more money. So you need to look at your idea from their perspective to translate it into something that appeals to them.
Think:
How does the idea help achieve company goals?
How does it make more money for the company?
How will it help the company compete?
What happens if we don’t bother? In other words, why is it urgent?
Prepare a short document with the answers. Be tough on your idea. Will it pass the manger test?
People love graphs and simple pictures that explain the impact of an idea. They’re not interested in going through the same journey you took to get to this point. They just want a story that tackles their challenges. A story they can repeat to their boss. A story with clarity.
Employees are different. They most likely won’t receive the same rewards a manager will if the idea is a success. You need to build excitement in them for your idea. How could this make their working lives better? Why should they put the effort in?
Getting attention for your idea is hard. But knowing how to adapt your style to fit your audience, from the managers, to the technology department and the frontline employees, is a great start.
You need to be able to motivate a variety of people to your cause – each with their own priorities and agendas.
A painter is able to focus solely on their vision, not thinking about anybody else’s perspective. You’ll need support throughout the organisation to bring your idea to life.
There’s one way of speaking to get the frontline employees onside and a totally different approach for the managers. Your challenge is to find a way of communicating with all the relevant groups, while remaining consistent.
Take managers.
Managers say they like great ideas, but what they really care about is doing their jobs well. Which often means making the company more money. So you need to look at your idea from their perspective to translate it into something that appeals to them.
Think:
How does the idea help achieve company goals?
How does it make more money for the company?
How will it help the company compete?
What happens if we don’t bother? In other words, why is it urgent?
Prepare a short document with the answers. Be tough on your idea. Will it pass the manger test?
People love graphs and simple pictures that explain the impact of an idea. They’re not interested in going through the same journey you took to get to this point. They just want a story that tackles their challenges. A story they can repeat to their boss. A story with clarity.
Employees are different. They most likely won’t receive the same rewards a manager will if the idea is a success. You need to build excitement in them for your idea. How could this make their working lives better? Why should they put the effort in?
Getting attention for your idea is hard. But knowing how to adapt your style to fit your audience, from the managers, to the technology department and the frontline employees, is a great start.
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