Principles of influence

The six principles of influence that are discussed in the video are:

Reciprocity- people are obliged to give back to others what they have received from them. Real life examples would include: inviting a friend to a party because they invited you to theirs; a colleague helping you with something meaning that you ‘owed them a favour’. People are motivated to help people that they feel they ‘owe’ in some way. If you are going to use ‘reciprocity’ as a technique, make sure you are the first person to give, and that what you have given is personalised and unexpected.

Scarcity- people want more of the things that can have less of. Limiting a resource increases its value to people even when nothing else about the resource has changed . To use this technique, you need to go beyond talking about the benefits of your vision - you need to explain why it is unique and what the person will lose if they do not invest in your vision.

Authority- people will follow the lead of credible, knowledgeable experts. It is important that people regard you as a credible, reliable expert before you make your influencing attempt. Asking someone to do this on your behalf will increase people’s trust in you and make them more likely to seriously consider your position.

Consistency- looking for, and asking for, commitments that can be made. If you are using this principle, look for voluntary, active and public commitments and secure those commitments in writing.

Liking- people prefer to say yes to people that they like. Research suggests that we like people who are similar to us, who pay us compliments and cooperate with us towards mutual goals. As more and more of our professional and personal interactions happen online, it is worth thinking about how we can make our online interactions more human and personable to influence people more effectively. Look for similarities that you have with the person you are hoping to influence, and think about genuine compliments that you could give them before beginning your negotiation.

Consensus- particularly when they are uncertain, people will look to the actions of others to inform their own behaviour. This means that if we show that the majority of people agree with our point of view, or that people who are admired by the stakeholder believe in our policy vision, this can be a powerful influencing tool.

Where have you seen one or more of these factors work well? Share your experiences in the comments section.

Source: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/ideas-better-world/1/steps/412287

Tactics for influencing policy

Tactics for influencing policy

You need to have a vision first. Even as an individual, you can find ways to make your vision a reality.

As you begin your journey to create influence in support of your policy vision, it is important to have a planned approach which means you can be as effective as possible.

Here are six “tactics” for you to think about when making your action plan:

1. Identify the stakeholders

You need to know who is important to you – as influencers, decision makers, beneficiaries or champions. A stakeholder is simply “any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of your objectives”, so you need to think carefully about who your stakeholders are before you engage them. We will look at stakeholder mapping later on, but you need to consider the degree of importance, influence and needs of a huge range of people who can influence or be affected by your policy.

2. Learn the “rules of the game”

Every public sector, private sector or civil society mechanism that you need to work through will have its own ways of working. These may be processes, approaches, formal and informal power structures or any number of other considerations. Before jumping in to action you need to spend time working out how to navigate potential obstacles. Who are the critical individuals? How are things normally achieved? What are the politics and perceptions that are at play? Spending time to map out the way things happen will be invaluable to help you avoid potential difficulties.

3. Frame evidence to fit the policy context and stakeholder preference

Make sure that you have the quality and quantity of evidence that you need, so that you can use the data which is most valuable for your individual stakeholders and stakeholder groups. Select evidence and use it to structure your argument, adapting how you present your case accordingly. Frame your evidence in the way that it is most likely to be well received – you should not mislead anyone with the evidence you present, but do make sure that you are using what you have to your best advantage.

4. Understand the pathway

Every action has something that needs to happen before it, and a consequence or action that leads from it. Make certain that you understand what happens several steps ahead of committing to an action, and recognise what actions will follow on. If you know the path that a decision needs to take then you can be one step ahead of any challenges that may present themselves. If a decision is dependent on a certain series of steps being followed before the decision is made, then you must be able to manage these steps as you gain momentum towards the decision.

Whatever you want to achieve, there are something else that you need to get done first.

5. Form coalitions with influential actors

You cannot gain impact alone; you will need a coalition of support to make progress. How you choose your partners is critical to your success – they need to understand and engage with your vision, even if they view it in different ways. You can use the influence of collaborators to fulfil your goals even if their priorities are different, but you need to want the same outcomes.

6. Remain engaged to exploit “policy windows”

Staying continually engaged means that you are ready to take opportunity of “policy windows” – these are opportunities where your policy vision may be in the “right place at the right time”. We will look at policy windows in more detail in Step 3.4, but remember – these are not pure luck, they are the product of work, concentration and focus.

Once you’ve read this article, think about the following question in the comments section:

• Which of these policy tactics do you think is most important to follow?

Source: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/ideas-better-world/1/steps/412279

Understanding "policy windows"

A policy window is an opportunity to gain momentum behind your vision because it is the right plan at the right time – it is a policy whose moment has come.

Getting political alignment behind your policy vision may sometimes feel like it is down to luck, but success is less about chance and more about putting the effort into engaging with stakeholders. If you recognise what is important to key influencers at a particular moment in time, you can create a window of opportunity for your vision.

• Elections

Elections are a great chance to promote your policy vision as part of an individual’s, group’s or movement’s platform. Having innovative and exciting policies to win votes is part of election campaigning, and it creates the opportunity for your policy vision to be part of someone’s manifesto. Of course, there are risks with aligning your vision with a particular side and you need to ensure that commitment to your vision is maintained beyond the election cycle.

• Crises

When a crisis hits, everyone is looking for a solution, so if your vision can provide a resolution to the challenge you may find a lot of interest in your policy vision can emerge very quickly. Being well-placed with strong relationships and visibility before a crisis hits means that you may well be the person that everyone turns to due to the credibility that you have already developed. The risk is that stakes may be very high and pressure to perform intense – potentially unreasonably so, and people may try and fit your particular vision to the wider problem (even if this is much bigger or more complicated) because they are eager for an immediate solution.

• Communities of practice

The community of practice that surrounds your policy vision is a powerful platform that you can use to guide high level understanding of policy potential. Supporting those who see the impact of your policy vision on the ground is a good way to build momentum behind your vision, and show that your policy has risen from the needs of the community. For this to be successful, policymakers need to see the community as powerful and influential, and there is a risk that your policy may be lost in a sea of competing perspectives.

• Career position of key stakeholders

Individuals in positions of authority can be powerful allies, and at different points of their careers they may be looking for ways to stand out from the crowd – your policy could be the difference that they are looking for. Whether an individual is looking to make an impact at an early stage of their career, consolidate their position in mid-career or leave a legacy towards the end of their career, they could provide you with the opportunity to make your policy vision visible and credible. There is a risk that a vision may be seen as aligned to one individual who may fall out of favour, and the policy may fall along with them.

Being aware of policy windows is a way to be fully engaged with the context and circumstances in which you are working. It takes effort to be in the right place at the right time, but in terms of policy impact it can produce profound results.

After you’ve read this article, think about the following question and share your thoughts in the comments section:

• When do you think the greatest chance of being able to have influence might be? Why?

Source: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/ideas-better-world/1/steps/412280

Learn English and Chinese at the same time, yes, possible

Peter Carey's My Life as a Fake

International Schools in Thailand

In 2016, Thailand had 175 international schools, 2 in 3 were in BKK.

https://ditp.go.th/contents_attach/211456/211456.pdf

ICCTAR 2019, Melaka, Malaysia

INTERNATIONAL

CONFERENCE ON CREATIVE TEACHING,

ASSESSMENT AND RESEARCH IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

(ICCTAR 2019)

Speakers include the following":

Diane Larsen-FreemanAntony John KunnanAlan MaleyCarolyn GrahamVahid NimehchisalemSeyed Ali Rezvani Kalajahi Charles BrowneVance StevensMohd Amin DinKadek Sonia PiscayantiNi Made RatminingsihCarmencita Palermo Tengku Sepora Tengku MahadiWilly A RenandyaLoh Chin EeKen Mizusawa Edwin ThumbooSiti Hamin StapaIkhsanudinAlvin Pang Lee Su KimRadzuwan Ab RashidSasigaran MoneyamMallika Vasugi GovindarajooMina PatelMohamed Ghouse NasuruddinJohanna Motteram

Link to the website:
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