Three Ways to Build Influence

Kasie Roberson, PhD

06-25-2026

In business, good communication skills have long been recognized as a quality employers seek in their employees. Effective communication skills are valuable because in companies and organizations, working well with other people is often essential to productivity and overall company success.

However, the catch is that working with other people can be one of the most challenging parts of people’s jobs, but the good news is it doesn’t have to be. There are ways to make it easier.

This month’s post in the Best Practices in Business Communication Series discusses three ways to use good communication skills to build influence at work.

What is influence?

Influence is a skill that can be learned and while definitions vary slightly, a good way to think of influence is how Zoe Chance in “Influence is Your Superpower” defines it: “…the power to persuade people to take action on your great ideas.” At work, that is what we are often aiming for — to help set the direction by having people listen to us and trust us. Influence is not something that is a given, even though we all have the ability to develop it. It is a skill that can be developed through strategic communication.

How can you develop influence at work?

1. Clearly communicate competence

Clearly communicating competence means that you not only know what you are doing and do a good job at your work, but you are also a clear communicator and work to make sure that others understand what you are doing and why. You give and receive information in ways that are helpful to yourself and those you work with. People who are technically trained well and possess the people skills needed to work well with others will excel in the workplace because responsible achievers who act with integrity and communicate clearly are always a value add. Ways to clearly communicate competence include:

• Always be prepared — for meetings, one-on-one’s, presentations, etc.
• Explain your reasoning clearly and transparently — be clear, concise and complete when you speak and write
• Always do what you say you will do — follow through and close the loop on tasks and communication exchanges
• When you don’t know the answer, know how to find it — you don’t have to know everything, but you do want to know how to find the answer

2. Be approachable and demonstrate kindness

If someone feels they can ask you a question, they are signaling they trust you. In the workplace it can be difficult to be vulnerable and ask questions. Some people won’t ask questions even though they really should, and often it is because they don’t feel they can trust the person to not answer the questions harshly. It’s up to all of us to create spaces that are psychologically safe for people to ask questions. We create this type of work environment when we are approachable and show kindness to others knowing that people are sometimes going to make mistakes. Being approachable helps create an environment where employees can ask for help when a problem is smaller — and getting help may stop the problem from escalating to a larger issue or crisis.

Ways to show approachability include:

• Demonstrate positive nonverbals — this is not just about appearing friendly, but helping others to feel at ease and in a safe space to speak honestly and ask questions when needed.
• Show patience — this is tied to active listening; practicing patience is important because some people tend to rush to solve a problem when what they need to do is listen, ask questions and coach those they are working with.
• State you are open to meeting — stating clearly that people can come to you when they have questions or concerns is a good way to reinforce the behavior you want in those you work with. Do not let this alarm you that your schedule will be overtaken by meetings — most likely it will not. If one person takes up too much time, you can always set a healthy boundary as needed.

3. Find a common ground with your audience

Whenever we are communicating, we always want to think about who our audience is and what they care about — aka audience analysis. When we do this, we will know better how to effectively communicate with our audience while at the same time building influence. Taking an interest in the audience helps to build trust even if we are not fully aligned on a project strategy or direction.

Ways to find a common ground include:

• Ask what success looks like to them — people may have different motivations driving their work so success may look slightly different for each person on the team. Asking what success looks like for a person you are trying to work with is the fastest way to find out and more effective than guessing or making assumptions.
• Practice active listening — listening carefully and asking thoughtful follow-up questions helps you to get on the same page with your audience. People appreciate feeling heard — it is sign of respect and when people feel respected, they are more likely to listen themselves.
• Identify a shared goal — we are not always going to see eye-to-eye with people we work with, but if we can identify a shared goal, we may find room to compromise on how to obtain that goal.

Influence is essential to gaining buy -in

As we develop influence with people we work with, we may find it easier to gain buy-in on ideas and proposals we put forward. It is because we have done the work to gain our audience’s trust.

Trust is earned through not only our actions but also our words. We trust people who act with integrity, transparency and communicate clearly. We also trust people who want to work towards a mutually beneficial shared goal. People are wired to want to be valued, respected, and have autonomy, so the next time you want to gain buy-in, consider what you have done or need to do to build influence with those you work with.