Last year I wrote about influencing and driving change without direct authority, with trust highlighted as one of the keys to success. In that post I listed ways we can build trust, such as being knowledgeable about the subject matter, being generally organised and being clear in our communication.
So, if you’re trying to introduce improvements in your organisation and need to persuade others to join in, consider using audit reporting techniques to build your communication and to come across as knowledgeable, organised and clear.
To explain what I mean by this, I will deconstruct a typical internal audit finding for you, which commonly has six components:
Criteria: This is your key reference point or the angle you’re coming from. It can be a legal or policy requirement, a professional standard, a business or process objective or a governance principle. It’s part of your ‘why’. But only part of it and I’ll explain this in the implication section below.
Issue: This is your observation. It’s what you found when you had a look at the process or the current situation. This is also where you note any misalignment with your criteria, such as a process or a project failing to meet its objectives or a transaction not being completed in line with a policy requirement.
Implication: This is where you explain why this matters. This is the second part of your ‘why’, as hinted above. It’s not enough to say that something is required by policy – it’s also important to explain why the requirement is there and the risk it is aiming to address. In another example, it’s not enough to say that a project didn’t meet its objectives – it’s also important to highlight the planned project benefits that were not realised or the problems that remain unaddressed because implementation failed or was subpar.
Recommendation: This is your proposed solution or how the situation can be rectified or improved. If it’s too late in this case, then this is where suggestions for future projects or transactions can be outlined.
Management response: This is the project manager’s, line manager’s or process owner’s opportunity to have their say. It’s respectful, prudent and fair to let them have the opportunity to respond and add any mitigating circumstances or any improvements that have already been mapped out. It also shows that they are on board with the related improvement agenda.
Agreed action: This is the action management has agreed to. It doesn’t necessarily align with everything the auditor has suggested. However, it does capture what management is committing to and is more powerful when a due date and action officer are added. This also lays the foundations for future follow up efforts because the person responsible will know who to go to, when and what they’ll be looking for.
So, how does this increase your influence?
Well, first of all, it forces you to make sure you have identified, analysed and presented all of the relevant components of your communication. For example, you will need to know:
what you are trying to achieve and why
who the key players are
what the current situation is like
what the existing problems are and how they could be resolved
what actions will be required, by whom and by when.
This will show that you know your stuff and that you’ve thought things through. Being clueless and unwilling to do the research is obviously not the way to go if you want to get things done.
Second, it forces you to come up with a solution or a way forward, with actions on how to get there and by when. People are much more engaged when you give them a roadmap. They are more informed and therefore more comfortable, both of which help to address their resistance.
Third, it gives you a structure to follow, especially if you are passionate about the issue and frustrated with the lack of buy-in but don’t know where to start.
Any thoughts?
Did you find this useful? What techniques have you used to increase your influence and drive improvements? Contact me and share your thoughts.
Thanks for taking the time to read the post.