Here's how you can assertively advocate for your research team's needs and resources.

Before you advocate for what you want, you must have a solid rationale. It is best to communicate your needs first with colleagues who are objective, and can provide feedback and your requests and plans. Getting as much supporting evidence and input before going to a supervisor can strengthen your ask. It is critical that you not just ask for what you want, but make sure you are creating value for others. People are most motivated to support your plan when they see how they derive benefit from it.

One thing I’ve learned is to consult with others doing similar work or projects. Consulting with other researchers outside of your organization can help you identify: needs that you didn’t consider, resources you may already have, unintended consequences (good or bad), skill gaps, etc. Being able to articulate that your advocacy is informed not only by your own expertise and experience but also that of industry leaders who are doing or have done similar work shows that you’ve done your homework, so to speak. It builds your case and demonstrates that your requests/advocacy is rationale. This may be especially true when your presenting research team needs to leadership that may not be as familiar with research processes or rigor.

Advocating for your team’s needs, tools, and resources is essential to elevating their work. To prepare for effective advocacy, start by methodically gathering your data. Understand your team’s needs, identify challenges arising from resource gaps, and project the improvements in team performance when these resources are acquired. Organize this information in a clear, readable format to strengthen your representation of your team and increase your success rate through advocacy.

The first step in adopting a project is to define what the project is. The vision, the outcome, the reason for the project. This is done initially with limited knowledge since the journey to achieve this vision, project, etc. will have many lessons about life along the way. Each and every step will be full of lessons about life for all participating and those affected. The beauty of the creation process is that you will get what you ask for, but not necessarily how or what you thought it would be. If you want to control the process then it will only be a good result. If you are connected to Source and allow it to guide you through the process you will achieve things beyond your current imagination.

Whether it's a classic engineering job or a managerial one, the absolute key to success is meeting requirements. That starts with well defined project goals, specific short-, medium-, and long-term objectives. When those things are known, it becomes possible to evaluate the Team's capabilities against its "must have" functions. It is also straightforward to identify and evaluate the feasibility of the inevitable "scope creep" that will arrive during the kickoff meeting.

2 things that have never failed me in 20 years: 1. Build a good ‘business’ case according to your organization’s mandate, and 2. Package it in a sales pitch. Believe me that’s the most difficult part, especially I health sciences

In other words, you have the idea and now how are you going to sell it. Who do you need to sell it to. Will the outcomes be truthful, benefit others, build better friendships and make a difference for you and all concerned. This is basically your marketing strategy.

Advocating for your team's needs through clear communication: - Clearly articulate your case using simple and straightforward language. - Avoid jargon and technical terms that could confuse stakeholders. - Ensure your message is easily understood and relatable. - Provide specific examples or data to support your points. - Emphasize the impact on outcomes or benefits to stakeholders.

The most important part of doing a project is to get your team connected on the Vision and Outcome. So a clear and concise statement that the whole team can agree and express is very important. So when they are communicating with others the message is consistent. Then there is the ask, that has to also be consistent, whatever you are doing requires an ask. Want a new member, you must ask, want support for your project, you must ask. So developing the ask so you have consistency is very important. Then when you get a response to the ask, what must you do? Everyone on the team needs to know this, write it down for everyone to internalize it, practice it, remember it and act on it.

Don't ambush your audience. Be SURE that key players know what is coming and are on board with it. Keep it simple, st*#!d. Simple declarative sentences. Avoid "death by PowerPoint," too many slides or simply reading what's on the slides, thus implying that your audience can't read. Hit the important stuff at least three times, once on the first (Introduction) slide, once during all of the "meat," and once again on the last (Summary) slide: o Tell them the ask. o Tell them how it will contribute to success. o Tell them the consequences of not getting it.

Communicating the benefits of supporting the needs of the team and at the right time, include those stakeholders as you gather evidence. Find two to three grand supporters! Befriend and respect their input. The result of early influencer engagement will determine whether the group as a whole will vote to support the needs. I always have found the friends on review committees. I chose the Accountant, then a Professor, then my Chancellor. Standing before inclusive partners in that Board allowed peer to peer swaying. I never stood alone. I stood one at a time with the supporter threesome. I only capstoned at the very end of the review meeting. As they spoke, I took notes. This is the correct way to gain ground.

Often times this is under used because of the smart people thinking that they know everything, get everyone to contribute to this process so you have all your options identified and this is where the Source really kicks in. You will have those unknown influences that could have been missed had you not let everyone contribute.

Aligning the team’s needs with the overall organizational priorities is key. Also demonstrating that you have done your homework and prioritized the list of requests from critical to nice to have. And being able to compromise and remain nimble and flexible during the negotiation process is important too.

Another area where the Source will provide guidance if you understand the process. Every problem you encounter, every concern you receive is an opportunity to fine tune and make the path to success a sure thing. Problems are normal and the stepping stones to success. The psychology of winning.