How to Influence People at Work: A Practical Guide

To influence people at work, start with them, not your idea. Work out who you need on side and what each person cares about, then build your case in their terms. Listen more than you talk, choose when to push and when to pull, and treat resistance as information. Influence without authority comes from trust, credibility and relationships, and it can be learned and practised.

Most managers in health and care need it every week. The registered manager getting night staff to change how they hand over. The deputy making the case to the area manager for more hours. The nurse lead asking a GP practice to change how it sends medication changes. None of them can simply tell people what to do.

What influence is (and isn't)

Influence is changing what someone thinks or does without forcing them. Authority can get compliance on a Tuesday afternoon. Influence gets people doing it properly at 3am when nobody is checking.

It isn't manipulation. The test is simple: would you be comfortable if the other person knew exactly what you were doing and why? If yes, it's influence. If you'd rather they didn't find out, think again.

Start with your stakeholders

Before you plan what to say, map who matters. For a change such as a new handover process, list:

• Who decides: the people whose yes you need, such as the registered manager or provider.
• Who does the work: the staff whose daily routine changes.
• Who is affected: the people you support, families, visiting professionals.
• Who others listen to: the senior carer with twenty years in the building whose opinion carries more weight than any memo.

For each person, note three things: what they care about, what worries them about your idea, and where they stand now. A simple grid helps: how much power they have over the outcome against how much interest they have in it. Spend most of your time with people high on both, and keep the rest informed.

Then do the uncomfortable bit. Ask what each person would lose if your idea goes ahead. Extra paperwork, a favourite shift pattern, a sense of control. That's usually where resistance comes from.

Cialdini's principles of persuasion

The psychologist Robert Cialdini set out six principles of persuasion in his 1984 book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, and added a seventh, unity, in 2016. Influence at Work lists all seven. Here's how they look in a care setting:

• Reciprocity: people give back what they receive. Cover a colleague's training day or share your rota template, and they're more likely to help you later.
• Commitment and consistency: people like to act in line with what they've already said. Get a small, public yes first, such as agreeing to trial a new form for one week.
• Social proof: when unsure, people look at what others are doing. "Two of our other units already use this and their handovers are shorter" works better than "head office says so".
• Authority: people follow credible experts. Bring in the specialist nurse, the guidance itself or the person on the team who knows the subject best.
• Liking: people say yes to people they like. That isn't charm; it's being fair, remembering names and noticing good work.
• Scarcity: people want what is limited. If training places or funding really are limited, say so. If they aren't, don't pretend.
• Unity: people are more open to those they see as one of their own. "We" language and shared goals, such as the people you support, carry weight.

These principles work, which is exactly why they need an ethical line. Use them to make an honest case easier to hear, never to rush someone into something that isn't in their interest.

Build a case people can say yes to

A good case fits on one page and answers the questions the decision-maker will ask anyway:

1. The problem, in their terms. Not "I want a new system" but "we're losing two hours a week chasing missing information at handover".
2. The evidence. Your own incident logs, audit results or feedback beat general claims.
3. The options, including doing nothing, with honest pros and cons.
4. Your recommendation and the cost, in time and money.
5. A clear ask. What do you need, from whom, by when?

Offer a trial where you can. A four-week pilot on one unit is far easier to agree to than a permanent change across the service.

Push and pull: choosing your style

Influencing styles are often described as push or pull.

• Push means proposing, explaining your reasons and setting expectations. It's quick and clear, and right when something isn't negotiable, such as a safeguarding concern or a safety risk.
• Pull means asking questions, listening, involving people and building a shared picture of where you're heading. It's slower, but people own the result, which matters when you need them to change daily habits.

Most managers lean towards one. If you always push, people comply while you're watching and drift back when you aren't. If you always pull, decisions stall. Pick the style for the situation and the person, not your comfort zone.

Listening is half of influencing

You can't influence someone you don't understand. In Getting to Yes, the Harvard negotiation experts Roger Fisher and William Ury advise separating the people from the problem and focusing on interests: what people actually need, rather than the position they've taken.

In practice, that means open questions ("What would make this work on nights?"), summarising what you've heard before you respond, and letting silence do some of the work. Your emotional intelligence, especially reading how someone is feeling and managing your own reaction, does a lot of the heavy lifting here.

Handling resistance

Resistance usually has a reason. Common ones in care: workload, a previous change that was badly handled, fear of getting it wrong, or simply not having been asked. Try this:

1. Acknowledge it. "You're worried this adds paperwork. That's fair."
2. Ask what's behind it, and listen to the answer.
3. Find the shared interest, usually safer care or an easier shift.
4. Adjust what you can. If the objection improves the idea, change the idea and say so.
5. Follow up. Go back after a week and ask how it's going.

For bigger changes across a service, a structured approach helps. See our change management training. And when you need to make your case to a room, presentation skills make the difference between a nod and a decision.

How Kasorb can help

Kasorb's influencing skills training helps managers and staff persuade, negotiate and build support for ideas, including with colleagues they don't manage, senior leaders and people outside the organisation. Over a full day, staff learn to understand stakeholders, adapt their style, build a persuasive case and handle resistance, with negotiation basics included.

The day is a workshop, not a lecture. Your trainer has used these skills for real, and staff practise on situations from their own work. Tell us about a change your team needs to win support for and the trainer can use it in the scenarios. It runs on-site anywhere in the UK or live online for up to 12 staff, at one price for the group. Certificates are emailed the next day.

FAQs

What are the 7 principles of influence?

Robert Cialdini's seven principles of persuasion are reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, scarcity and unity. The first six come from his 1984 book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion; he added unity in 2016. Used honestly, they help people say yes to good ideas.

How do you influence people without authority?

Build relationships before you need them, understand what each person cares about, and frame your idea in their terms. Use evidence, offer a small trial, involve people in shaping the change, and listen to objections properly. Credibility and trust do the work that a job title can't.

What are influencing skills?

Influencing skills are the abilities that help you change what others think or do without forcing them. They include understanding stakeholders, listening, building a persuasive case, adapting your style, negotiating and handling resistance. Managers, team leaders and anyone who needs buy-in from people they don't manage use them every day.

What is the difference between influence and manipulation?

Influence is open: the other person could know exactly what you're doing and why, and the outcome is in their interest as well as yours. Manipulation relies on hiding your intent or creating false pressure, such as fake deadlines. It may work once, but it damages trust for good.

Is influencing skills training a legal requirement?

No. There's no legal requirement for influencing skills training. In health and care services in England, CQC's Regulation 18 expects staff to receive the training and professional development they need for their role, and influencing skills can form part of a manager's development plan.