Facilitated by Ami. T.

One of the most requested topics in Agile 103 — and one of the most important skills you’ll ever develop.

Welcome to Influencing Without Authority:

The Scrum Master has no authority over the team. The Product Owner can’t force stakeholders to show up. The Agile coach can’t mandate that leadership changes its behavior. And yet, all three of them are expected to drive change, align people, and deliver results. This session teaches you how.

What We’ll Cover:

• Why authority is overrated and influence is underrated
• The difference between positional power and personal power — and how to build the latter
• The 6 principles of influence (based on Cialdini’s research): Reciprocity, Commitment, Social Proof, Authority, Liking, Scarcity
• How to build credibility and trust without a title
• Techniques for getting buy-in from resistant stakeholders
• How to influence upward: working with leaders who don’t fully support Agile
• How to influence sideways: working with peer teams you depend on but don’t control
• How to influence downward: coaching team members who don’t report to you
• Navigating organizational politics without losing your integrity
• Using data and storytelling to make your case
• When to push, when to plant a seed, and when to let it go

Real Scenarios We’ll Work Through:

• Getting a stakeholder to actually attend the sprint review
• Convincing a reluctant team to try a new retrospective format
• Helping leadership understand why they shouldn’t add scope mid-sprint
• Building trust with a new team that is skeptical of Agile

Benefits of Attending This Session:

Participants will leave with a personal influence strategy, practical techniques for navigating resistance, and a new confidence in their ability to lead change without needing a seat of authority.