The Difficulty of Creating Influence When You’re In a New Group
PsyBlog has a new post called “How Newcomers Can Influence Established Groups” but I think the title of my post may have been more appropriate, since PsyBlog basically says that newcomers are going to have a hard time getting their input recognized.
In one study, 187 health professionals were split into one group of participants that thought they were being critiqued by a newcomer who had only been there 3 weeks while the other group believed they were being critiqued by an 18 yr veteran:
“In each case the criticisms were presented to participants were identical, the only difference was their apparent source.
The results were clear. Compared with old-timers, the health professionals:
- thought newcomers provided less constructive criticism,
- agreed less with newcomers’ suggestions,
- were more negative about their criticisms.“
So what can a newcomer do to improve receptiveness?
Another study showed that they could improve their standing in a group by distancing themselves from their old group.
Thinking back on some of my previous jobs when I was vocal (or not), it makes sense that as someone who’s new in an organization it would be wise to hold back initially, but NOT because you’ve been a part of the group for such a short period of time.
Instead, I think what it really comes down to is trust. When you build trust, your peers will be more receptive to your thoughts. Yes, it does take time, but the way you act (offering intelligent opinions, helping others, listening intently, etc.) can really alter and reduce the amount of time that it will take for the rest of the group to believe in you.
