Excerpted and adapted from Harvard Business Review, The Management Tip of the Day on May 22, 2015
Use Sensory Cues to Win People’s Attention
Your success depends on winning people’s attention. If your team doesn’t listen to you, how can you lead effectively? If you can’t get your internal customers’ focus, how will your planned initiative succeed? Here are three triggers that call people to attention:
- Automaticity. Sensory cues like loud sounds, bright colors, and temperature grab our attention automatically. This doesn’t mean you have to shout; instead, think about more subtle ways to use these instincts. For example, try giving a star prospect or client a hot cup of coffee or tea.
- Disruption. We pay attention when something violates our expectations. Try surprising your boss, leadership team, or colleague in a positive way: Ask an unexpected question, beat a tough deadline, or suggest taking a walk.
- Reward. Incentives we can visualize have a greater impact on our attention. So when you’re offering your team a performance reward at the end of a big project, don’t just tell them, provide a visual representation of the success reward.
Adapted from “7 Ways to Capture Someone’s Attention,” by Ben Parr.