Denise Brouillette

When is the right time to influence someone and how will you know it?

There are two ways to look at time and both have to do with the readiness of the other to hear you. The first is preoccupation and the second is pain.

Preoccupation signals a bad time. Before attempting to influence someone, ask yourself, "Is this person in the right mood to hear this?" Gauge if they are so overloaded and overwhelmed with issues before them that your proposal will not get the attention it needs. Never go in to influence someone when they're just about to go out on vacation, or the day or two after they come back because they've got too much on their minds to listen to you. Never approach them when they seem frazzled; you'll just get the brunt of their anger, unless, of course, you're solving the problem that they're frazzled about, and then you've struck gold, time-wise. And finally, figure out what the best time of day is for them to hear proposals -- is it morning, midday, late afternoon? Always present to them at their best time, not yours.

Pain indicates a favorable time. The second way to look at time is from the perspective of the depth of the problem your proposal solves. In other words, is there enough pain for the individual or the group -- have they reached their threshold -- so that what you're proposing will have their ear? Is it time for them to say yes because the pain or pressure they're feeling from outside is at a point where they'll be receptive to a proposal that lifts that burden? Okay, now that we've got the actual time thing out of the way, let's talk about the second kind of time. And that is, the time when they're ready to hear you. When they've got a problem so big or so frustrating or annoying that whatever you're proposing to solve it, they'll jump on it. So here, the right time is when the other person clearly sees the benefit to them in saying yes to you.

What to keep in mind when you decide your timing for influence. Are you lifting a burden, solving a problem, making something better for the person from whom you need a yes? What I mean here is, are you easing the pain? If yes and you know the burden you're lifting, the problem you're solving, then your timing is right. If not, then you need to figure out the benefits first. Once you do that, you're practically on easy street. When you make a proposal that shows only the benefit to you, you're missing the boat. For simple things, when there's nothing to lose, you might get an easy "yes." But any time there's anything at stake for the person you're trying to influence, you'd better be sure that there are some big benefits to them to whatever it is you're asking for. And until such time as you know the benefits and know how to present them, you should wait before influencing. Otherwise, you're likely to get blown off.

When the timing is right, you up the likelihood of getting a yes under these circumstances:

• When the other person or group will gain something by saying yes to you, not lose -- and that could be power, control, status, resources, etc.
• That by saying yes to you there is little to no risk to their reputation, career, status, department, and you can show that in your presentation.
• They are confident in your ability to be successful in whatever they're saying yes to, and in doing so, they will benefit
• You've got a convincing plan in place that tells them you can follow through without difficult, and as a result, they will benefit.
• And finally, you've got a contingent plan for problems that might arise and because of that, you will cause no further pain or problems for them.

In summary, choose a time when they can give you their full attention, when they're not preoccupied and thus distracted by other issues (unless, as I said earlier, it's the issue you're going to solve for them), and the second is the timing to alleviate the pain, lift the burden, solve the problem. Consider those 2 things and you're likely to get the results you want.