Map Out Your Socialization Process in Advance

When a business team "socializes" an idea or proposal, it means they share it informally with others—such as colleagues, stakeholders, or potential partners—to get early feedback, build support, and spot any problems before officially trying to make it happen. It's a way to test the waters and refine the plan before committing to it.

This is a very good idea.

An even better idea is to map out in advance your process for socializing a potential new initiative. I recently watched one of my client’s teams engage in such a process, and was so impressed that it was quickly obvious I should share the concept here.

Consider questions such as:

● Who are the people that we need to get on board and how are we going to get them on board?

● Who's going to go talk to them?

● What should the first discussion be like?

● To what extent should we be “soft pitching” this and getting their early input as a way of letting them participate in the decision?

● Who might have the power, impulse and inclination to kill our progress… and is there a way we can approach them first and convert them from a potential opponent to an early supporter?

For example, you might decide that one person in your organization is pivotal, and that s/he is the very first person that you need to get input from, because if they won't go along with it, it's just not going to fly at all.

It may take time to get that person to come along; they may have several things to work out. There probably are elements of your plan that are going to cause some heartburn for them… and they are going to have to work through those before they can get on board.

I almost see it like a flow chart: first go to her, this is the way you're going to approach that conversation… then go to these two others… then process their feedback, make revisions and go to step two.

The time you invest in mapping out your socialization plan will increase your odds of being prepared for each conversation and it will improve your ability to see things through other people’s eyes. This is important because when you make meaningful changes within a sizable organization, the effects can ripple for quite a distance.

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I help successful leaders and their teams agree on what needs to change and how to make it happen. I am the author of Fearless Growth and The Agility Advantage. 

For more strategies, videos and free materials, please visit www.setili.com. If you are curious, here are a few quick examples of the work we do. You might also enjoy my Fearless Growth Podcast.

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