Homework: Influence & Power
Scenario
The Association for Strategic Planning, a professional nonprofit organization, has reached out to you and requested that you present at their local chapter meeting next month. The session's topic is how influence and power can be utilized to create buy-in for a department's goals. They are asking that you distinguish between influence and power, discuss how to build buy-in, and explain how best to use organizational awareness. Many of the audience members will be managers and department heads, and they work in all sectors: technology, media, industry, etc.
Directions
Your presentation with speaker notes should include the following in order to demonstrate your understanding of how influence and power can be leveraged to create buy-in for a department's plans:
I. How influence relates to creating buy-in for a strategic plan
• Define influence, and elaborate on types of influence.
• Explain how it can be used to create buy-in.
• Explain how to identify who has influence in an organization.
II. How power relates to creating buy-in for a strategic plan
• Define power, and elaborate on types of power dynamics within an organization.
• Explain how power can be used to create buy-in.
• Explain how to identify who holds power in an organization.
III. Describe multiple ways to create buy-in with internal stakeholders for supporting departmental strategic plans.
• Explain the importance of establishing buy-in when communicating strategic plans to internal stakeholders.
• Explain how to identify key stakeholders in the organization who are outside of the department.
• Elaborate on steps to create internal buy-in.
• Explain when someone would use champions in their department to promote a winning strategic idea.
• Explain how someone would point out the misconceptions of the naysayers to then gain their agreement
IV. How to incorporate an organizational awareness of influence and power to create buy-in
• Demonstrate the importance of the following elements, using examples to support your claims:
o Political atmosphere
o Verbal and nonverbal cues
o Cultural norms within the organization
o Written and unwritten rules
o How the department fits within the organization
o How influence and power relate to the above bullets
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
o The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
o The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
o Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.