Influence theory and models won’t help you reach your design goals if you can’t put them into practice.

So I’ve boiled down the influence gameplan into a 1 page worksheet (pdf) to get a sense of how to tackle things in the real world.

This sheet is about influencing outcomes inside an organization (not influencing consumers to buy or behave a certain way, that’s a different post). Before we can influence user behavior, we have to influence business behavior to actually get the design done ;-)

This is very much a draft, so please leave your comments or @ me on Twitter. The small version here links to a PDF for closer viewing. 

The worksheet asks seven core questions. We’ve been building these questions through the different takes on influence I’ve posted recently.

1. What is the big, overall goal you want to achieve?
   There’s no point trying to influence something if you don’t know what you want to have happen in the end. 
    
2. How will you know you’ve succeeded?
   And that outcome needs to be in concrete, specific terms so you can see when you’re getting closer (and where things are going off course).
    
3. What is the very next outcome you need to get closer to your goal?
   This is the key question for iterative influence, and breaks big goals into manageable, actionable, influenceable chunks.
    
4.  Who can help you achieve that outcome?
   This is the other side of the coin of asking the next outcome question, and in some ways is even more important. The person might be your boss, or a peer. It might be someone in IT, or in the call center, or maybe at a client outside your firm. It could even be your fiercest critic. 
    
5. What does that person value? What’s in it for them to help you out? This is going to help direct the next question.
   5a. How are you going to work together with that person?
   That may be one-on-one, or in a group. It may focus on data or on stories.  
    
6. Once you engage, what’s the outcome? Did you get that very next step, or are you shifted to another path? Either way, loop back to Question #3 - what’s the next outcome now?

I’ll be expanding on these core questions over the coming weeks.

Here’s a simple example of working through getting a project off the ground (links to full size PDF example so you can read it).

Let’s say you’re a team lead in a web department for a large company. Here’s how a relatively straightforward influence process might roll out.

1. What is the big, overall goal you want to achieve?
   The goal here is to get the greenlight for rearchitecting and redesigning a key intranet section, for Employee Benefits. Poor findability and design on the intranet that is costing the company a lot of money in wasted employee time. The benefits section is the hotspot for this failure.
2. How will you know you’ve succeeded?
   While there have been vague “we should do something about that” sentiments, we want a budget and a team assigned to the project with a specific start date. 
3. What is the very next outcome you need to get closer to your goal?
   The very next thing is to make sure that HR is still focused on this area before you go selling the project.
4. Who can help you achieve that outcome?
   So you need to go talk with Alan, who is the HR Web Coordinator and the one who really wants the project done, since he gets dumped on when people can’t find their benefits information online.
5. What does that person value? What’s in it for them to help you out? This is going to help direct the next question.
   Alan feels like he inherited an ugly mess, and this project is his chance to show that he can do things better.
   5a. How are you going to work together with that person?
   I just need to drop by Alan’s desk and give him the heads up that I’m ready to go.
6. Once you engage, what’s the outcome? Did you get that very next step, or are you shifted to another path? Either way, loop back to Question #3.
   Alan is excited that we’re finally going ahead. Now it’s time to get your boss in the loop…

After confirming with Alan, then we meet with other players, from George, the Web Director (and your boss), to Allison, the VP of HR, and the team that’s going to be on the frontlines getting the project done.

Of course, there isn’t any big pushback in this scenario, but I hope it shows you how the sheet works.

 So, a few disclaimers:

First, this is a draft, and it’s not perfect in content or layout. Feedback much appreciated.

Second, for many decisions, the sheet isn’t big enough to show enough ‘next outcomes’. Real change often takes many more interactions.

Finally, if you use this in a work setting, this kind of information can be super inflammatory if someone unexpectedly finds their name on a plan like this. Be careful. I am not responsible if you’re in hot water for using it. That said, this approach is often fine if you’re transparent about it - “I’m just making sure I’ve got everyone on board” or words to that effect can be useful, though I still wouldn’t parade the sheet around.

The Worksheet is Like Influence Training Wheels

I don’t think you need to use this sheet every time you have a decision to affect. Instead, I think of this worksheet like training wheels, or a teleprompter - useful as you start to get going, and a good reminder of how to tackle influence problems. As you put these principles into practice, you’ll find yourself  using these steps as second nature, no worksheet required. And if you already know how to sell design and UX inside your organization, then the worksheet is a good reminder of how to bring things together.

So, disclaimers over with, what do you think? How does this jive with your experience? What could be clearer? Are there pieces I’ve missed? Changes?  Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Thanks!