Week 6 Coaching Assignment: Gaining Authentic Power and Influence

PLANNING

“Power need not be associated with aggression, brute force, craftiness, or deceit. Power can also be viewed as a sign of personal efficacy. It is the ability to mobilize resources to accomplish productive work.” (Developing Management Skills, p. 284) This is the mindset I need to get into! Power is also defined as “the potential to influence behavior” (Developing Management Skills, p. 286).

I often shy away from power, because I fear it. I fear not being able to handle it, or to misuse it in some way. So what I need to do is change my perspective of power, and view it more as “a sign of personal efficacy”. In this sense, I need to focus on being assertive and confident. People will not be willing to be influenced by someone who seems insecure of what they’re saying. Also I would like to focus on the power each individual have in a group, to influence each other. Often, in group projects, we lose precious time not being sure how to structure the assignment, how to divide the group work, etc. I would like to learn how to be more efficient in these certain situations, and how to influence other team members to be efficient as well. So to sum up; aspects of this skill that I would like to improve is assertiveness, showing confidence and being able to take control in an inefficient group.

I will try and apply my skill for a group project. In one of my classes we have a big project due for the end of the term. The same group has also worked together on a project earlier. And when we worked on this I noticed we had a lot of downtime, where nothing was really getting done. And I know that all the members of our group are very good workers, but it seems that we don’t really know how to work together. I think people are afraid of sounding “bossy”, afraid of getting stuck with all the work, or maybe they’re stressed about something else and they’re not making this project a priority. Either way, it took a lot of effort to get the work done, and I think the time we used to try and structure the work, could have been spent better. So for this next project I want to get the ball rolling quickly. The involved in this process will mainly be my team.

In order to apply this skill I will have to make some preparations. If I’m going to be more assertive, I will need to plan carefully and acquire knowledge about our assignment. Because I will not meet with my team in person this week, I’ve decided that writing an e-mail might be a good way to explain everything carefully. Allowing them to read through it thoroughly, might also let the message sink in more clearly. I will start the e-mail off by explaining why we need to get started soon. I will talk about the last assignment we did together, and how I feel we can use our time better. I will be careful as to not focus only on the negative aspects of the last group project, but rather focus on both aspects – what worked, and what didn’t work so well. I will also explain that by being more prepared and focused when having meetings, will enable us to be more efficient, which in turn might open up for more free time individually. Also, I think I need to explain why I think this is important. Because even though the project isn’t due until the end of the semester, I believe it is important to get started soon because everyone will be busy when the final exams approach. Then I will come with a suggestion as to how we can structure our next assignment, and ask their opinion about it, and if they have any suggestions of their own.

I hope that by taking more control in this situation, the other members of my group will appreciate it, and see that I only wish what is best for the team. I think that indicators of successful performance will be agreement among my team members in that we can improve ourselves from the last time, and that they appreciate my efforts. Hopefully my actions will not come across as “bossy” or as trying to “overtake” the group, and I will receive a positive e-mail back.

EVALUATION

After having sent my e-mail, I still haven’t received a response from everyone yet. But the two responses I got were mainly positive! One of my team members thought it was great of me to bring up the project at an early stage, and she agreed that we weren’t the most effective team the last time. She thanked me for coming up with a suggestion, and said she would read through it more thoroughly when she had the time, to see if this was something that could work. The other person that replied me also thought it was great that I took this initiative, but he said he wanted the team to meet in person as well, to discuss this (and potential other) structures. Which I also think sounds like a good idea. So I think the effect on the others can be said to be a positive one!

To improve myself, perhaps I can try and be even more inclusive. In the end of the mail I asked what they thought about my suggestion, but perhaps I should have also asked their opinion about the last project? Maybe someone got offended by me saying we weren’t effective enough last time? I think that maybe next time I will try and have this type of conversation in person. While there are some positive aspects with using e-mails, I recognize that some opportunities might be missed as well. I was not able to see their initial reaction, and perhaps we missed a chance to get everything out in the open and “clear the air”. When I e-mailed them what I thought didn’t work the last time, I didn’t really give them a chance to say how they felt about our previous project as well. So next time I will try to be even more inclusive.

Before sending the e-mail, I was quite nervous. This is unlike anything I’ve ever done before, as I’ve been afraid of being the one taking charge. And I felt nervous pretty much the whole time, until I got my first response. To be honest, I’m still a little nervous about the rest of the responses. But the surprising thing is that it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. Perhaps it was because I was physically separated from my group, but I felt like I could stand by the things I wrote, and that I would be able to defend my views, should it be necessary. So I think I’ve learned that there really isn’t any need to shy away from power and asserting influence, as long as you are able to use it for something positive and in a constructive way.