Strategy & Decisions
Building Recommendations That Get Heard
Build sound recommendations with incomplete information, lead with the key point, and hold your position under pushback.
Standard version
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A recommendation that gets ignored is rarely wrong on the facts. More often, it is missing the bigger picture or it buries the most important point. This course helps professionals build sound recommendations when information is incomplete, communicate them so the key point lands first, and hold their position under pushback without becoming rigid. It closes with a capstone where participants defend a recommendation of their own.
What you'll learn
- Recognize the bigger picture behind a task or directive before dismissing it.
- Build a sound recommendation when information is incomplete.
- Recognize where their influence sits when they are not the final decision maker.
- Communicate a recommendation so the most important point lands first.
- Anticipate the hardest questions and adapt the recommendation for different audiences.
What you'll be able to do
- Connect their work to the priorities behind each request.
- Make well-reasoned recommendations without waiting for perfect information.
- Lead with the bottom line in written and spoken recommendations.
- Answer tough questions before they are asked.
- Hold their position under pushback without caving or going rigid.
Federal professionals are often asked to analyze an issue and recommend a course of action to leaders who see a wider picture than they do. This course helps participants understand the priorities behind a request, build a sound recommendation with incomplete information, and communicate it so the bottom line comes first. Participants finish by defending a recommendation of their own in a realistic capstone.
What you'll learn
- Recognize the mission priorities behind a task or directive before dismissing it.
- Build a sound recommendation when information is incomplete.
- Recognize where their influence sits when leadership makes the final call.
- Communicate a recommendation using a bottom-line-up-front approach.
- Anticipate the hardest questions and adapt the recommendation for different audiences.
What you'll be able to do
- Connect their analysis to agency and leadership priorities.
- Deliver timely recommendations without waiting for perfect information.
- Lead with the bottom line in briefings and written products.
- Answer tough questions with confidence and credibility.
- Hold their position under pushback while staying open to new information.