Denise Brouillette

Jack had successfully influenced a group of leaders last week, or so he thought. The problem was that when he finished his influence attempt, he didn't close out the discussion the way he should have. This left the decision as well as the next steps open for interpretation.

We often end influence without a clean finish. To bring your influence to a close, whether or not you get what you went in for, follow these five steps.

Step 1: Sum up what's been decided. It seems obvious, but it's often something we leave out. We believe that everyone understands what the outcome is. In fact, what we often hear people say at the end is, “So, we're all set, right?” And everyone agrees with, “Oh, sure, yeah, we're all set.” Of course if we don't say what we're all set about, people leave the meeting with different ideas about what they're agreeing to. Summation sounds like this (and you can actually use the words “summing up”): “So in summing up what we've agreed to, here's the way I see it…” And then you state what you see. And that's all you do. And if you're in alignment, the other person or people are going to say, “Yes, that's exactly what we're agreeing to.” And then it's over and done.

Step 2: Clear up any lingering concerns. At end of your influence discussion, test to see if there are any lingering concerns by saying, “Are there any other outstanding concerns that we should be aware of? Or anything else that I need to know about now?” If there are any issues or concerns outstanding, people will say, “Oh, yes, of course, I forgot about this…” And then it's handled. If it doesn't get handled there, what will happen is once you leave, that issue will stand in the way of implementation.

Step 3: Get the final “yes” restated. After you've summed up what's been decided and you've talked about any lingering concerns, then you again say, “Okay, so we're all set now, yes?” You need to get that final yes. It cements the closure.

Step 4: Agree on the next steps. We sometimes leave discussion of next steps out as well, assuming that everyone must know what the next steps are. To ensure that the next steps are clear, you can say: “Let's just go over next steps. Here's what I see myself doing. What about you?” And with that, the steps are outlined and agreed to. If there are any issues regarding those steps, they'll come up right then and there, get handled, and then they're gone.

Step 5: Close. A simple ‘thank you' is often enough. But when you know people well, your ending could include an invitation to coffee or lunch or whatever seems appropriate for the situation.

Follow these 5 steps and see how much more often your decisions actually get implemented.