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I am a member of a user group that meets weekly to present on topics that we have learned from Manager Tools. Last week I facilitated a discussion around the topic [i]How to be Persuasive in a Presentation[/i]. A question come up that we wanted to get perceptive from the forum on.

Three members of our group were in a meeting earlier that day and were having difficulty coming to a compromise with another team that they had zero relationship with and low expertise. In order to resolve the problem they had to bring in some with role power for the groups to come to an agreement.

We talked about how role power could work in this case but shouldn’t be relied on heavily in the future. We also talked about using DISC and your network to help. What happens when you don’t have a network to work with? Are there any other suggestions that you have for handling this situation?

philwhineray's picture

This sounds like a case for working back towards common goals; there must be something both teams can agree on, even if it's only the high level objectives. There must be some or they would not be having the meeting.

Once they've established the common ground it will be much easier for people to move the discussion forwards positively.

If the teams can't see any common objective you need someone with role power to make those objectives clear: ideally that will have happened before the meeting ever takes place though.

jhack's picture

How about the members podcast from Nov 2007 on "How to Prewire a Meeting?"

The real goal is to prevent the situation altogether through better planning.

John

asteriskrntt1's picture

John is spot on. As much as possible, you want to build concensus before the presentation or meeting. The prewire cast is great for giving you direction on this, as is the cast on Building a Network.

The more people you know and touch base with regularly, the easier it is to have your radar up and constantly be pre-wiring.

*RNTT

emencke's picture

Thanks for you responses. We reviewed the Pre-Wire meeting podcast and agreed that this is the right approach.

How would you recommend handling this situation if you weren't run the meeting?

tlhausmann's picture
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[quote="emencke"]
How would you recommend handling this situation if you weren't run the meeting?[/quote]

I may be wrong but it depends on how much time you have before making the pitch. If you have significant lead time then you can float the idea with colleagues throughout your company while gradually refining the idea. When the idea is "formally" announced or enacted then the notion is familiar to all parties. This approach has worked for me.

If you do not have significant lead time then I'm left scratching my head for ideas. Perhaps building a coalition via several phone calls and coffee conversations is a good start.

jhack's picture

Building a consensus for your ideas, whether you're running the meeting or not, is a worthwhile endeavor. It might be MORE important if you're not running the meeting!

The approach should be about the same. You do need to work closely with the person who WILL in fact run the meeting.

John

thaGUma's picture

I agree with John, pre-wiring is a good idea, regardless of who is running the meeting.

Chris