Janine, this is a great response full of valuable information. I also manage teams with no authority. However, I’ve trained most of them & encouraged them to view me as a resource. This has served very well in most situations.

I can see why your team appreciates you on board.
Thank you for sharing your valuable experiences.

Great advice. I will share mine. I have been “managing“ a team for a few years now. I put that in quotations because I have zero authority over this team, and they don’t even report to me. However, my role is directly affected by their work, and I need to guide them to make sure that things go well. In spite of the fact that I have no power over this team, in the last couple years, I’ve implemented well over 20 process changes with basically 100% compliance. Here is what I’ve found:
1. Bring them in on the decision making for process changes. Whenever I wanted to change a process, I would certainly come with my own ideas, but I would also ask them for their thoughts, as well as background on why were doing things a certain way. I found people are much more likely to implement changes when they’ve been a part of the discussion.
2. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate, and then over communicate. As the article mentioned, explaining the why behind the change and the natural consequences and continuing to bring that up multiple times in the beginning. I found that explaining it once is not enough.
3. Give grace. In the beginning of any change, people make a lot of mistakes. Even with the most gung ho team, there will be errors because they’re humans. Give a lot of grace for these mistakes and assume that they are trying their best. If a certain mistake keeps happening, address it, but I found that once again, keeping an open mind when addressing it is key. It may be a motivation issue, but it could also be an ability issue. Sometimes, there are elements of the company structure/processes that may be getting in the way.
4. Get relational. It doesn’t have to be too deep, but taking a little time to form a personal connection works wonders
5. Praise privately and publicly. Every chance I get, I praise the team, either to the individual or in a group setting. I will also praise them even when they’re not present as well as in meetings with their manager’s manager. I give them credit for the success. This really matters for people.
6. Open door policy and check ins. I let the team know that I always want to hear anything they want to share: comments, concerns, ideas, etc. I take all suggestions seriously and look into them. It isn’t always possible, but I respect their insights and always at least investigate. I also checked in frequently, especially in the beginning and asked if there were things I could do better to help them achieve their tasks.
7. Take responsibility for failures. When things don’t work, the first question I ask is if I could’ve explained it differently or in a better way. This has helped me to be in a better headspace when dealing with issues. The team is also more receptive and less defensive when I go in humble.
So, that’s what’s worked for me. A long comment, but hopefully it can help. In my experience, most people want to succeed and do well, they just don’t always know how (even if how sometimes seems obvious to me). As a deeply choleric person, I realize that this all sounds very ooey-gooey, touchy-feely, but, the proof is in the pudding. I get more cooperation with a team I have zero authority over than many managers with actual power, and the team has repeatedly expressed to anyone who will listen how happy they are since I’ve come onboard. This advice might not work for you, but, if you’re looking to make a change, it might be worth giving some of these a try.