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Influencers are people who, in a group, have the ability to control and shape messaging, and change the opinions of others. Influencers can have both positive and negative impacts on a team as there are influencers who use their abilities to create positive communication, while others may promote gossip or other deleterious rumors. Below are a few tips for how to identify influencers on your team.
- An influencer is the person who holds a different opinion from the rest of the group, and is able to convince everyone to change their minds. Influencers who do this for good, may convince others of their opinion based on data and a general interest in creating a positive work environment. Others may change opinions through tactics of intimidation—creating the antithesis of a positive work environment.
- An influencer can also be the person who seems to know all rumors based on speculation, or all news based in truth. This person appears to be the source for general office gossip, or factual goings-on. Somehow they are positioned, or have positioned themselves, to learn about things first, and to quietly and carefully share what they know with others. Again, this can be used to disseminate both positive and negative information through networks in a work environment.
Once you’ve identified the influencers on your team, it’s important to keep them in mind and invest in getting their buy-in on changes to come, or when you need some internal public relations support. Influencers are useful people on a team. Even and especially if you’ve identified influencers who are contributing to a negative work environment, don’t write them off. Put in the work to get them on your side and use their power to support your mission. In this process, they are actually becoming change agents for good. Although change is inevitable, it’s also uncomfortable for many people. Having a team of agents who can help to facilitate, or even just support, necessary changes, is critical.