11 Topics and Techniques for Getting Buy-in from Your Boss, Peers, and Team

Enhance your communication skills with these actionable strategies aimed at fostering understanding and rapport. From stepping into another’s shoes and adapting your communication style to accommodate different personalities to listening actively and demonstrating credibility, these tips empower you to establish peer-level connections and navigate resistance effectively, ultimately fostering productive, and meaningful interactions.

1. Step out of your shoes.
   Spend time anticipating what others will say and how you will respond to their objections instead of rehearsing your own story.
2. Accommodate other personality types.
   Develop self-awareness of your own personality type and adapt your communication style to another’s personality type.
3. Establish peer level communication.
   Treat others as equals. Their time is just as important as yours. Learn about what’s important to them.
4. Listen more than you speak.
   Ask powerful questions. Listen for objections, perspectives, and ideal outcomes.
5. Narrow the resistance.
   Clarify the objections and discuss potential next steps.
6. Agree with objections and focus on benefits.
   Don’t defend against resistance.
7. Appeal to another’s self-interest.
   Logic makes people think. Emotion makes people act.
8. Shift another’s perspective.
   Ask another, “Just for a moment, what if we looked at the situation from my shoes? Or from Joe’s shoes?”
9. Create familiarity.
   Make people feel comfortable by highlighting that others have been there and done that. Highlight that others have experienced the same challenges.
10. Ask for permission.
    Use phrases like “May I ask you?” “Would you be willing to?” “May I play devil’s advocate?”
11. Demonstrate credibility.
    Talk about your ‘three good reasons’ to show that you’ve given this a lot of thought.