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Easterseals DC MD VA. Including Individuals. Empowering Families. Strengthening Communities. Service mark. Easterseals DC MD VA. Including Individuals. Empowering Families. Strengthening Communities. Service mark.
Speak to each person's priorities
Video

Management’s Decision Making Isn’t Like the Military

Learn how to perfect your pitch across your team.

In the military, completing a mission is straightforward. But in the civilian workforce, many people are involved in the decision-making process, and so you may have to convince them how something should be done. You need to speak to each person’s priorities.

For example, how will our team help HVRP prepare veterans for civilian careers? The CEO wants the big picture, so we’d say… We’re creating video resources. The program director wants data, so we’d say… The videos help x% more veterans. And the production staff asks about the workload, so we’d say… We’ll work with you to script and record everything.

Basically, you know what to do, but you have to sell it for everyone to get on board.

In the military, completing a mission generally means following a logical, pre-determined set of steps. But in the civilian workforce, deciding how to complete the mission usually begins with a conversation. Many people are typically involved in any decision-making process and so you may have to convince multiple people of how something should be done. They each may react differently to the same idea based on their role in the company. You have to propose your idea in a way that addresses each person’s priorities.

For example, management asks how to fulfill HVRP’s mission of preparing veterans for civilian employment. The CEO wants the big picture, so we say, We’re creating a video resource library specifically for veterans. The program director wants data, so we say, These videos will help x% more veterans understand how to transition into the workforce. Production staff want to know how this impacts them directly, so we say, We’d like to work with you to script, record, edit, and post the videos.

Once everyone understands the value of your idea from their individual perspective, a decision (in your favor) can be made.