Business Skill2 Notes

( Vikas Pratik YouTube Channel )

1. Persuasion & Influencing Skills.

2. Complex Problem Solving Abilities.
3. Personal Mastery.

Persuasion & Influencing Skills.

1. Interview Skills.
2. Handling Conflict.
3. Negotiation.
4. Storytelling
5. Six Principles of influence
 6. Understanding persuasive
techniques
7. Building blocks of trust .

Persuasion and Influencing skills

Persuasion is when you try to make someone agree with you or do

something by giving them reasons or using emotions .
Influence is when you have the power to change how someone
thinks, feels , or acts

To earn trust, money and power aren’t enough; you have to show some concern for
others. You can’t buy trust in the supermarket." – His Holiness the Dalai Lama

-Six Building Blocks of Trust

Reliability and Dependability: A person or group that is true to their word and fulfills their
commitments encourages

Transparency: People are anxious about unknowns and tend to assume the worst when
they’re not informed about a new development. When management meets in secret or
does not share important information, team members can easily become distrustful. On
the other hand, when people share their thoughts, feelings and considerations, or when
an organization, usually through its leader, tells its members what is going on, everyone
knows where they stand and trust can flourish.

Competency: This is another element that is central to building trust. If you think a
person, leader or organisation is not capable of doing what they are supposed to do, you
cannot trust them. Therefore, even when a person has a good heart or good intentions
and we like them personally, they cannot win our trust if they’re not capable of doing what
they promise.

Sincerity, Authenticity and Congruence: People can often sense when someone says
something that is not aligned with what they are feeling inside. When a leader is insincere
or inauthentic, people don’t believe what he or she is saying. A leader who says one thing
but who acts differently is not congruent. For example, it is hard to believe someone who
says they want to listen but does not give you a chance to speak, or someone who says
she is concerned about people yet seems to have a plan to lay people off. People may
think they can hide their true feelings or contradictions, but others can quickly detect a
lack of sincerity or congruence. That’s when trust is eroded.

Fairness: Some people act as if the needs and desires of others are not important, or they
don’t truly listen to or respect both sides. Trust cannot grow in a relationship where it’s
all about one person or in a workplace where all the energy is focused on the company or
leader.

Openness and Vulnerability: If a person never says they are wrong and apologizes or
acknowledges their mistakes, other people do not feel comfortable disagreeing with them
or sharing their own thoughts. A leader who is “never wrong” never gets the truth from
others. Yet a timely apology or admission of being wrong is a powerful weapon to build or
rebuild trust.

-Upspeak, fillers, and fast talking are all classic trust busters.

“modes of persuasion” ( Ethos, Pathos and Logos )— Aristotle

Ethos or the ethical appeal, means to convince an audience of the author’s credibility or
character.

Pathos or the emotional appeal, means to persuade an audience by appealing to their

emotions.

Logos or the appeal to logic, means to convince an audience by use of logic or reason.

Stanford Commencement Speech by Steve Jobs. June 12, 2005.

I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. August 28th, 1963.

The Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy by Ben Bernanke. August 27th, 2010

Reciprocity:
It is a process of exchanging things with others to gain a mutual benefits. The norm of
reciprocity( sometimes referred to as the rule of reciprocity ) is social norm where if someone
does something for you ,you then feel obligated to return the favour.

Types of reciprocity:

Generalized reciprocity: between the family and friends

Balanced Reciprocity:
Negative Reciprocity: when one party involved in the exchange is trying to get more
about it then the other person.

Handling conflict:

1. Talk with other person

2. Focus on the behaviour and events not on the personalities
3. listen carefully
4. Identify points of agreement and dis- agreements
5. Prioritise the area of conflicts.
6. Develop a plan to work on the each conflict
7. Build on your success.

building blocks of trust:-

Empathy
accountability
Transparency
customer experience
employee empowerment
employee recognition

Ability to build trust with various stakeholders:

1. Persuade
2. Influence
3. Negotiate
4. Manage conflicts
5. Overall have an excellent communication with client and partners

Negotiation technique :

1. Quivering pen technique: you ask for the something extra at the end but the big
difference is that you ask for the extra before you sign the deal before

2. Vise technique: the vise technique a common technique used by the negotiators
when presented with a proposal is to say you will have to do better than that this
can be a very powerful statement especially when used to with a broken record .
the most powerful way of dealing with the ask them to more specific
3. Nibble technique: negotiation by David collectors is called nibbling is asking for
small items one at a time and getting agreement on each until you have got a lot.
Nibbling is a negotiation technique in which a negotiator asks for a small concession just
as a deal is about to close.

The five steps of negotiation process are:

Preparation and planning

Definition of ground rules
Clarification and justification
Bargaining and problem solving
Closer and implementation

Story telling technique

Immerse your audience to a story

tell a personal story
create suspense
bring characters to life
show .don't tell
Build up to star moment
END with a positive take away

S.T.A.R :
Something they will always remember

Five influencing styles:-

Keep an open minded

consider your body language
ask question and and listen carefully
review the evidence
match their style

Effective customer interviews

focus on the problem- the first thing to understand

define customer archetypes
develop an agile mindset
be prepared to listen a learn
Preferably conduct in personal interviews

Six Principle of influence:

 reciprocity, commitment or consistency,
Cladin's 6 principles of influence are
consensus or social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity.

Scarcity : for example online seats platform for hostels and

aeroplanes commonly say like things like only 5 states left at
this place they do this to create a sense of scarcity as well as
to add time pressure which is closely related

Authority: we see the principal of authority in action in many

works of life dentist in white court are used to sell toothpaste
airlines staff wear uniform to remind us this there authority
and many and email is signature is appointed with a string of
qualification in an effort to increase the individuals authority.

Liking nearly every advertisement will feature individuals

designed to appeal to the products target market the more the
customer associates with and like that person the more likely
they are influenced by them.

Social proof
: similarly companies talk about now many millions of their
product have been sold or how many customer days serve
and so on its all about social proof you can use social proof in
your sales process by referring customer case studies, third
party is review or even leverage willing customer as reference
your prospect can speak with.

Commitment and consistency:

 Also known as the foot in the door techniques this approach
focuses on establishing a commitment from you and relying
on your need to be consistent to benefit from that commitment

Persuasive techniques are methods used to influence or convince others to adopt a

certain viewpoint, take a specific action, or make a decision. They are commonly used in
advertising, politics, and everyday communication. Here are some key persuasive
techniques:

Appeal to Emotion: Using emotional language or imagery to connect with the audience's
feelings. For example, showing a heartwarming story in a charity ad to evoke sympathy.

Logic and Reasoning (Logos): Providing facts, data, or logical arguments to support your
point of view. This appeals to the audience's rational thinking.

Credibility (Ethos): Establishing yourself or your source as trustworthy and

knowledgeable. This can involve citing experts or using endorsements.

Appeal to Authority: Referencing respected figures or organizations to support your

argument.

Scarcity: Creating a sense of urgency or scarcity to encourage immediate action. For

example, "Limited-time offer" or "Only a few items left."

Social Proof: Showing that others have already adopted the idea or product, indicating
that it's a popular or accepted choice. This can include testimonials or user reviews.

Repetition: Repeating key points or phrases to reinforce the message and make it more
memorable.

Bandwagon Effect: Suggesting that everyone else is doing it, so you should too. "Join the
thousands who have already signed up."

Fear or Threat: Highlighting potential negative consequences to persuade people to take

action. For instance, warning about health risks to promote a healthy lifestyle.

Storytelling: Using narratives or anecdotes to engage the audience on a personal level

and make the message relatable.

Understanding these techniques can help you recognize and analyze persuasive
messages in various contexts and make informed decisions about their validity and
effectiveness

Ownership in accountability means individuals and teams taking accountability for the
quality and success of both the output and outcomes of their work
. ownership does not means perfection
 Complex Problem Solving Abilities

Problem solving :
is a process of identify a problem ,developing a possible solution
paths and taking all the appropriate course of action

Holistic Approach
Holistic means Taking a comprehensive approach. It encompasses the whole of a thing, not
just the part. An example of holistic health care is health care that focuses on the health of
the entire body and mind and not just the parts of the body. One way to consider a problem
is to look at its constituent parts and get to the root of the issue. Once the root cause is
identified, one can search and develop solutions. The holistic approach involves looking at
the problem as a whole and viewing the big picture.

8 Fundamental of Problem Solving

1. Define the real problem

2. Solve the root cause of the problem
3. Use a hypothesis
4. Gets the facts
5. Keep the solution simple
6. Don't reinvent the wheel
7. Gain momentum in problem solving
8. Consider time

Problem Solving Tools

1. Brainstorming
2. Gap analysis
3. Employee Survey
The “Butterfly effect” is an idea that says a small change can make much bigger changes
happen. The idea started from weather prediction. The term ’butterfly effect’ comes from an
analogy where a butterfly flaps its wings in Chicago and a tornado occurs in Tokyo

What is active listening?

Active listening is the ability to focus completely on a speaker, understand their message,
comprehend the information and respond thoughtfully. Unlike passive listening, which is the
act of hearing a speaker without retaining their message, this highly valued interpersonal
communication skill ensures you’re able to engage and later recall specific details without
needing information repeated.

What are problem-solving skills?

Problem-solving skills help you determine the source of a problem and find an effective
solution. Although problem-solving is often identified as its own separate skill, there are other
related skills that contribute to this ability.

Some key problem-solving skills include:

● Active listening
● Analysis
● Research
● Creativity
● Communication
● Decision-making
● Team-building

What Is the 5 Whys Method?

How to Use the 5 Whys to Get to the Root Cause of Any Problem -
LifeHack
3 Common Biases That Impede Problem
Solving
Here are three of the most common ones to be aware of:
1) Confirmation bias
This occurs when we favour information that confirms our existing beliefs. For example,
during an election, people tend to seek out positive information that puts their favoured
candidate in a good light. The media use this to their advantage all the time. They provide
compelling points to encourage us to formulate an opinion. Any other evidence that might
contradict this is usually undermined, or not reported.
2) Recency bias
This is when we place greater importance on information that we’ve recently acquired. A
classic example of this is financial traders looking at only the most recent events whilst
disregarding older pieces of information which are equally important (and sometimes more
important).
3) Framing bias
This concerns how we are influenced by the way information is presented, as opposed to the
information itself. For example, a yoghurt could be labelled as 90% fat free or, alternatively,
as containing 10% fat. Similarly, a burger could be ‘framed’ as being 75% fat free as
opposed to being labelled as containing 25% fat. Which of those options sounds the most
appealing?

Analytical skills

Analytical skills or analytical thinking is an ability to collect, visualize, and analyze

information to see the bigger picture or trend behind facts and help in finding solutions to
common problems and make decisions in helping what to perform next.

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally, understanding the logical
connection between ideas. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent
thinking.

Problem data gathering tools

Brain storming

Gap Analysis

Employee surveys
Fish Bone Diagrams

Fishbone Diagrams also referred to as cause and effect diagrams, are a problem solving
and fault finding tool which dissect an issue or problem into a standard four contributing
sources approach. Fishbone diagrams get their name from their close resemblance to fish
bones. The main horizontal line or "backbone" carries the problem statement, and the
diagonal lines on either side of this line pointing towards it represent each of the contributing
sources from which other lines stem representing possible causes or hypothesis.The four
contributing sources to a problem or issue used in a fishbone diagram are:

5 Whys Problem Solving

The 5 Whys problem solving technique uses a very simple iterative approach in analysing
and attempting to find the root cause of a problem. The 5 why technique originates from the
Toyota Manufacturing system pioneered in Japan by the Toyota car company. The concepts
consist of defining the problem in a problem statement first and then asking why is this is the
case, or why is the problem what it is. This technique is sometimes approached in a team
environment and can involve brainstorming as an idea generation process to identify
potential causes.
Root cause analysis
Root cause analysis is referred to the process of analysing the effects and symptoms of a
process and tracing theses faults, failures and issues back to their root causes of why they
eventuated and what actually caused the problem in the first place. Root cause analysis
should be integral to a kaizen or continuous improvement business and company culture.

Pareto Principle - Application in Problem Analysis and Operations

Management

Pareto problem analysis and pareto charts are based on the Pareto principle which is named
after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. The application of the Pareto principle inproblem solving and
analysis can provide a great starting point with simple data analysis of process, plant failure or
production data to provide an early insight into problem causes and effects without intense or
complex analysis. The pareto principle is also referred to as the 80-20 rule.

A process flow chart is a process analysis tool which maps out a process and its steps
through a set of standardized flow chart symbols. The process flow chart is an initial step in
process re-engineering and continuous improvement/kaizen initiatives that help understand
the different process steps, the sub-steps within these and the nature of these steps. It is a
similar approach to value stream mapping where the value stream of a product or service is
mapped from raw materials to customer distribution. Some process flow charts can be very
complex and used in engineering design and plant designs, these are usually known as
schematic diagrams and use a different set of symbols and provide more detail of the
process.
Problem Tree or Issues Tree
Problem trees state the problem statement as the first level of the tree and then causes of this problem
statement branch out into the second level of branches and so forth. This approach of problem definition and
dissection is used by management consulting and operational consulting firms in mapping out the problem
areas or causes of under performance in certain business areas. The problem tree is very similar to a potential
problem analysis but not as lengthy and is intended to generate discussion or brainstorming among the
management team and business or process improvement team on potential causes of that eventually lead to the
problem statement.

Design thinking is a creative approach to problem solving with a human centred core. The
focus of this approach is on the user and it starts with asking the right questions. The five
stages are to empathise, define the problem, ideate, prototype and test.