Persuade, Communicate, Confusion?

Are we persuading people or are we confusing people?

I think about persuasion as one element within a message that is asking the receiver to do something. The message would be asking a person to act either in addition to behaviors and/or beliefs or to change behaviors and/or beliefs. When we are communicating something with action then the message includes the variables that would convince a person, by connecting with the receiver on a personal level.

In today's world we are all receiving a variety of messages that are trying to persuade us. However are we reaching the point where there is so much message clutter that we are becoming confused on what is important. In my organization, we have concerns. There are a variety of employee benefits/ services available, and we are trying to communicate them to staff and persuade them to use these benefits. However our concerns are around the idea that we may be confusing our employees about what is important to the organization with so many messages being sent.

Working for a non- profit organization, I feel that the commitment - consistency theory best applies to how we communicate our internal messages to employees. We are focused on communicating our values and persuading employees to behave a certain way that reflects the mission, vision and values of the organization. "According to commitment-consistency theory, persuading people to comply with a small and seemingly harmless request greatly increases their likelihood of complying with a subsequent larger request." (Vaidyanathan & Aggarwal, 2005, p.232)

An example of how we could use this theory as part of our internal communications strategy would be with our Employee Wellness initiative. We would start by asking employees about their health and commitment to being healthy. From this we would gain the commitment to their personal health and well being. The we would ask the employees to attend workshops that would provide healthy eating tips. Hopefully then the employees would attend the workshop. By attending the workshops they are being consistent with their commitment to a healthy lifestyle. Which would also in return to the organization, keep our employee health benefits costs lower with healthier employees.

Being able to understand how persuasion can effect a work environment is important as a leader. Knowing your audience and what is appropriate is a key element to the persuasion process. As a leader we have to be relaible, credible, knowledgeable and trusted source. Which means that understanding the different ways to generate a persuasive communication, is imperative being successful.

Reference

Vaidyanathan, R. & Aggarwal, P. (2005). Using commitments to drive consistency: Enhancing the effectiveness of cause-related marketing communications. Journal of Marketing Communications, 11(4), 231-246.

Change is happening, is my motivation?

Life is never ending change, and with so many life and work changes happening around me I am wondering if my motivation is changing?

To me motivation is that feeling inside that makes you want get up and go, some days that motivation is our jobs, however other days that motivation is a person, a loved one in need or the desire to see an old friend. I feel motivation changes for each situation we are in, but if we are not motivated to act we would never be satisfied with where we are.



In the Shah and Shah article the section on Types of motivation, really made me think about my current work environment. My current team in under new leadership and each team member has their own needs when it comes to motivation. Shah and Shah state "if you understand what motivates people, you have at your command the most powerful tool for dealing with them." (2007, p. 1). I think that our new leader is still figuring this out so the satisfaction of the team is not as high at it could be. However, this article also mentions how motivation is not just a downward flow, I completely agree with this idea. As a team we all have the opportunity to motivate each other as we partner across functions to meet the department goals. Motivation as a team can be powerful since satisfaction of the team will increase, interpersonal realtionships will develop, and productivity will be high. This is where our team was in mid 2008, under our past leadership.

The theories of motivation where very interesting to me. Because while I was reading the theories either a work or life situation came to mind about a persons motivation. The one theory that really jumped out at me was McClelland's Theory of Needs. This past week a situation arose, and I feel that reading our this theory has given me some insight to that co-worker and their motivations.

"David McClelland has developed a theory on three types of motivating needs:

1. Need for Power
2. Need for Affiliation
3. Need for Achievement

Basically people for high need for power are inclined towards influence and control". (Shah, 2007, p.6). I realized when reflecting on this theory that the need for power that this person has is their motivation and when power/ control is lost they lose their motivation and the project, outcomes suffer. So the plan moving forward is to make the effort to have this person feel in control of the project as we partner to achieve the intended goals.

I am hoping that having this new knowledge about motivation, I can make the needed situational and personality changes to work better as a group leader and with my direct team. We all are unique which gives each of us our own motivation. Shah and Shah's types of motivation will help me in assessing situations and understating how I work best with others in getting the desired results.

For me the following quotes from the end of the Shah and Shah article will motivate me along on this journey of education and professional development.

- "The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything"

- "To be a winner, all you need to give is all you have"

Reference

Shah, K. & Shah, P. (2008.) Motivation. Retrieved July 10, 2007, from http://www.laynetworks.com/Motivation.htm

Learning today means a better tomorrow!

On this journey of reaching my life goals, the academic setting is proving to be extremely beneficial. The ability to gain knowledge and self awareness is enhancing my thoughts and behaviors daily.

I was enlightened this week, when reading about my communication styles. I was able to take a step back and think about how I communicate and impact it has, both positive and negative. Being an "Open" communicator, the areas of being to open and wanting and needing feedback may be hindering my success. In the past few days I have started to watch how open I am and how much feedback am I asking for. WOW... do I ask for a lot of feedback and share a lot of information. The opportunity to listen more is no longer a blind spot for me. I want to be a better leader and co-worker and this journey is really proving to be the way.

My next personal action step is to enhance my awareness of listening and how I am listening to others.

To be an effective communicator, listening competence is imperative to being successful.

Life Goals

As a child I was told to have goals and by having goals then I will have purpose. Which means what? I interpreted this into meaning that if I have goals then I am focused on achieving something that will imporve my life and knowledge. I was taught to work hard and put in the time and good things will happen. Which has been a way of life that has brought me many great expierences and memories. So what about life goals? Well having life goals has given me reason to do something, that wouldn't normally happen if I didn't "schedule" it into my life.

A few life goals that I had over the years have been, at the age of 5 I wanted to be famous (and we see how that has worked out). At 15, a sophmore in high school, my goal was to be on the Varsity Basketball team, which after a summer of camps, workouts, weightlifting and practices became a reality. At 20 I was just praying to pass economics, and I was never happier with a "C".

However, at 25 my life goals started to take on more structure, entering in the workplace and learning from so many different people. I really started looking at goals that I wanted to expierence or have as part of my life. A few things that have taken form for me with this structure, is going back to school to get my masters before I turn 30 and becoming a better cook for my finance before we get married. (Even though I blew up a glass pan on Christmas Eve, which was a small set back.)

My newest life goal that is different from all the others is that by the time I turn 32 I would like to have performed as a stand up comedian at an open mic night. I am taking this opportunity to blog my ideas and solocit ideas from other on how to make this happen in the next few years.

Wish me luck!