Cornell University College of Engineering

CEPL555: Influence Without Authority

Project Worksheet

Instructions:

Please complete each part of this worksheet in order. At the end of the course, you will be instructed to submit the final completed worksheet for grading.

Part One: Write Your Own Case

Please identify a situation in your work that required you to gain the support or assistance of others to accomplish something you wanted or needed to do. Ideally the situation described should be something from your recent past experience, but if such an example is not available, it could be something you are currently dealing with that you would like to explore hypothetically.

Describe the situation.

What was the situation and how did it come about?

What was your role in the situation, and overall, what were you trying to accomplish?

Who else was involved in the situation, what was their role, and why, in general, would they have cared about actions you took or wanted to take?

Define what you wanted and its implications for others.

What specifically did you do or want to do in the situation to accomplish your objectives? How did you develop this course of action?

What specific support or assistance did you need and from whom?

What might have been the benefits and disadvantages of the course of action you wanted to take for the people from whom you needed support or assistance?

Define how you exercised influence.

What did you do to gain the support or assistance you needed?

What went well in your influence efforts? What could have been done better or differently?

What personal pitfalls or tendencies did you need to overcome to win the necessary support or assistance from others?

How did you overcome these pitfalls or tendencies?

Write a Summary

In the space below, write an executive summary of your case. In one or two brief paragraphs, summarize the major elements for your instructor. Be sure to describe your role in the organization so the instructor understands the setting for your case.

Part Two: Increasing Your Power

This exercise gives you an opportunity to apply the model of power and influence presented in class to your own situation. Drawing upon the list you reviewed in the activity “Personal Planning,” develop a plan for increasing your power in an organizational setting.

Describe the setting.

What factors do you feel account for your feelings of powerlessness in this setting?

What specifically will you do to increase your power in this setting? (Please list both the specific actions you will take and the time frames for taking or completing them.) Why do you feel these actions will help?

Given what you know of yourself and the situation with which you are dealing, what factors might get in the way as you implement your plan? How will you minimize the impact of those factors?

What will be the benefits to you and to your organization, if you become more powerful in this situation?

Now write a brief reaction to the work that went into developing your plan. Did you learn anything by writing this plan? How did it feel to do this analysis?

Part Three:Apply Retribution

How can you tell if retribution-based strategies are being used? How do you know when they should be used? The project for this course gives you an opportunity to analyze your own case study to see strategies and their associated competencies in practice.

Answer the following questions with respect to your case study:

Is any player in your case using a retribution-based strategy?

Would a retribution-based strategy be effective or appropriate in this case? Why?

Based on what you learned in this topic, would you make any changes to the Checklist for Selecting Influence Strategies?

Part Four:Apply Rationality

Answer the following questions with respect to your case study.

Is any player in your case using a rationality-based strategy?

Would a rationality-based strategy be effective or appropriate in this case? Why?

Based on what you learned in this topic, would you make any changes to the Checklist for Selecting Influence Strategies?

Part Five:Apply Reciprocity

After you have reviewed your case, answer the following questions.

Is any player in your case using a reciprocity-based strategy?

Would a reciprocity-based strategy be effective or appropriate in this case? Why?

Based on what you learned in this topic, would you make any changes to the Checklist for Selecting Influence Strategies?

Part Six Managing Psychology

Analyze your case study through the lens of psychological management. Revisit the details of your case, and consider:

Are there indications that the psychology of any of the players informed how they acted during the event? If so, explain. What specific cues or evidence led to your conclusions?

What advice can you give to your colleagues about managing these psychological dimensions?

Consider the effect psychology had on your case study. Write your thoughts about the role psychology might have played and how you might approach the case differently as a result.