Getting things done without traditional authority

Author: Kevan Hall

In complex companies we have to get things done without traditional line management or other forms of authority. This skill is becoming key to success, particularly in a Matrix or Virtual team environment.

Influence without authority is very simple in theory but very challenging in practice, there are three key steps.

Understand the currencies you have available
Understand what people value
Match the currencies and the wants.
When you are trying to get someone to work with you and you do not have any traditional power or authority you are in a classic influence situation.

The essence of influence is exchange - what can I offer you in return for your time, support and attention?

The essence of exchange is to understand the "currencies" you have available.

A currency can be anything that is valuable - it could be visibility, new experiences, travel, technical challenge or anything that makes working on your virtual team or project attractive.

There are always more of these than you think - be creative and come up with a list of 20!

Now just start to apply them - right?

Not yet! The most fundamental mistake in using currencies is that people assume that what is valuable to themis valuable for everyone else too. If you think visibility and travel are great currencies you may be surprised when, for some people, these are a real turn-off. If you never travel then a trip to another location may be great, if you travel all the time, yet another flight is unlikely to motivate you. The same currency can motivate some people and de-motivate others.

The only real value of any currency is the value put on it by the person receiving it.

So the essential second step is - understanding what people value - and this is the hard part. The more you know people the easier you will find it to match currencies and personal wants, but often we don't know people very well in our virtual teams.

If you come on our Skills for Matrix Working trainig program we will give you some tools to help you work this out but in the absence of these here is a simple tip.

Why not ask?

If you ask the people you want to work with you "what would be in it for you to work on this project?" - you might find out.

Not all activities have a benefit to participants - sometimes it is boring work that just needs doing However if you can find a positive benefit to working with you then you will find it easier to motivate and get the best out of your colleagues.

You don't need many currencies - sometimes one big one is enough.

One of the participants on our matrix skills program was very relaxed during the exercise to identify her currencies. "I only have one but it's a great one" she told us "My IT projects involve working with the coolest new technology in the Company. That is what most of our IT people dream of. I just send out an email telling people what they will be working with and get loads of volunteers for my virtual teams - I never have a problem."

So the theory is simple - the practice, particularly understanding what people really want will take you the rest of your career.

Good luck - do it quickly

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Last updated: 12/07/07 09:08am