The 4 Plays in Your "Buy-in communication playbook" guarantees your team's
commitment to your cause
Prepare Your "Different" Playbook: Now
that you have your team members open to hearing what you'd like them to
help you with you must give them something of substance to jump on
board with.
You need a Playbook. Because of there is going to be some natural cynicism and skepticism to overcome (read about how to best overcome the natural cynicism and skepticism you will face go here).
So, you
need your Playbook to clearly articulate why and how this initiative
will be different from any other. This is where you get clear on why
this time it WILL be different.
A Playbook does four things for you to build the buy-in you need:
This is your empathy and compassion statement showing you see this from their individual (yes, one-on-one conversations should be part of your approach) and collective perspective.
I highly recommend gleaning the meaning from your team members in private, one-one-on-one conversations by asking them first what they think it will mean for them. The worst thing you can do is to tell them what it means for them or what you are projecting what you think it will mean for them.
The problem with that approach is you may miss it and get it wrong, killing the rapport you need for a successful initiative.
But, when you ask them for their feelings as to what it means for them, then you can feed it back to them at the appropriate time to reinforce that connection and the rapport you need to succeed.
1) WHY this is going to be different this time. It may be self-evident if you attack the first two bullet points here properly.
2) WHY this initiative is so important to you, personally, and the company overall. It is important for you to speak from the heart, explaining both your "why" and why you are committed to sticking with it and seeing this through this time.
I know this seems like a lot of work just to get people to buy-in to what you want as the owner and/or leader of your company.
But,
at the end of the day it's much less work than forcing it on your
people.
With one client, a long-term employee named "Randi" was definitely a skeptic that this initiative was going to make a difference.
Even after her boss, the Chief Information Officer at her company, followed this framework in her conversation with Randi and Randi's team, Randi was still skeptical and cynical.
But, as you will read in a future article, Randi, did come around after she was invited to participate in the initiative because the language above gave her a slimmer of hope that this would be different.
Not using this approach develops a "compliance culture" where you have to continually micro-manage people to get them to do what you want.
This process develops a "commitment culture" where people work with you side-by-side and effortlessly move towards the exciting, compelling future aspirations you have for your company.
Imagine having your team members as committed to achieving your vision for your company's future as players for a Major League Baseball team, National Football League team, or National Hockey League team, are as committed to winning their World Series, Super Bowl, or Stanley Cup Championship, respectively?
That's what this process will do for you.
If you'd like to accelerate your journey to create Your Championship Work Environment that leads to "a financially and emotionally rewarding place to work," click the button below to schedule Your Championship Work Environment Accelerator Session.
'Til Next Time, All My Best...
