Influence Without Authority
Course ID: CEPL555Assess and increase your personal political power to maximize your ability to exercise influence without authority and get projects accomplished.
Description
Project Leadership is about exercising influence to get tasks and projects accomplished even when you may not have the formal authority to mandate action. Whether you work in a matrix organization or lead a cross-functional team, your goal as a project leader is organize the actions of your team members to ensure the successful completion of a project.
To exercise influence without authority, you need to see your organization as a political system, understand the nature of power and influence in your organization, understand your own personal sources of influence, and know how to leverage your own personal political power. The most successful project leaders of the more unpredictable projects spend a considerable amount of time building networks of relationships with stakeholders and influencers; this course develops the skills necessary to employ these interpersonal and leadership skills putting you in the position of being able to manage the complex, and often adversarial, relationship dynamic of individual contributor, functional manager, and project manager.
This course focuses on exploring the primary strategies of influence – retribution-based, rationality-based, and reciprocity-based – and provides frameworks and tools to select the most appropriate strategy for the circumstances. Influential power is the result of more than your position in an organization; this course also introduces the Power Motivation Inventory, a diagnostic self-inventory model that will assess your capabilities as an influence agent and prepare you to leverage your abilities to maximize your influence.
The ability to exercise influence without authority is probably the single most important skill of the project leader. This course will develop your capability to assess and increase your influential power to accomplish your objectives.
This course has been approved for 6.0 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from the Project Management Institute (PMI).
Who Should Take This Course?
This course is essential for Project Management Professionals (PMPs), project managers, and functional managers charged with leading a cross-functional or project team to success. It is appropriate for business leaders, mid-level managers, and project managers who need to learn the critical leadership skills necessary to ensure the high performance of a project team.Enrollment
To register, contact an Enrollment Counselor at info@ecornell.com or 1-866-326-7635 (+1-607-330-3200 from outside the United States).Certificate programs are eligible for eCornell Payment Plans. Discounts are available for military personnel, veterans, and Cornell University Alumni. eCornell programs are not eligible for financial aid or federal Pell Grants. Contact an enrollment counselor for more information.
December 1, 2010
January 12, 2011
Course Format
eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.
This course contains the following modules:
- Power and Influence
- The Nature of Power and Influence
- Sources of Power in an organization
- Strategies of Influence
- Introduction to Strategies of Influence
- Retribution-based Influence
- Rationality-based Influence
- Reciprocity-based Influence
- Appropriate Selection and Implementation
- The Power Motivation Inventory
- Sources of Power
- Implementing to Maximize Influence
Benefits to the Learner
Learners who complete this course will be able to:
- Develop an understanding of organizations as political systems
- Explain the personal and positional sources of power in organizations
- Describe the basic types of strategies for exercising influence; develop an understanding of the conditions that would make each appropriate; and build skill in applying those strategies to a variety of influence opportunities
- Develop a plan for increasing personal potency in one’s organization
Authoring Faculty
Frank J. Wayno, Ph.D., Senior LecturerSponsoring School
Cornell University’s College of EngineeringTotal Learning Time
Approximately 6 hours over a period of two weeks.Certificate Information
This course can be applied toward the following certificate:You May Be Interested In...
Students who purchased this course also purchased:HRCI Recertification
Project Management Institute Professional Development Units
This course qualifies for 6.00 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) for Professional Project Managers (PMPs) seeking ongoing education and professional development for continuing certification. eCornell is a Global Registered Education Provider of PMI. PDUs are designated as Category 3.
Technical Requirements
With all eCornell courses, access is easy. Participants only need a computer and an Internet connection. To view specific technology requirements, visit our Technology Requirements page.
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