One of the great challenges of teammates who care or team leaders who are struggling to inspire commitment is the question.
It is a question I hear dozens of times from people at speaking events and conferences…
It is a questions that I am sure YOU have asked yourself if you have EVER been on a team before…
And the question is: “How Do You Create Buy-In and Get People To Go All-In?”
The short answer is what I usually give – you need to connect people to a compelling common goal and you need to connect them to each other.
But that is a little vague for many leaders.
And vague expectations lead to vague efforts.
So here is a more specific list of FIVE things YOU can focus on to ensure that YOUR people buy-in to your team goals and go all-in with personal engagement and ownership of results:
1. Include your team in team decisions
People want to feel valued – and want their opinion to be considered, even if ultimately the team goes in a different direction. An easy question is – “What do you think?”
2. Allow autonomy within team framework
One of the greatest lessons of leadership is to NOT micromanage. Give good people a clear understanding of what needs to happen by when – and let THEM work the way that best fits their personality and creative style. You may be surprised to learn that it is a good thing when others don’t think or work like you do ; )
3. Acknowledge and praise strengths
Everyone wants to be SEEN and noticed for their efforts. A powerful way to inspire continued effort is to praise PUBLICLY and let others hear what you are impressed with and thankful for. You’ll find that what gets rewarded will soon get repeated…
4. Tell stories to show impact of individual efforts on team mission.
This is part of the “compelling common goal” you want to create more buy-in for… and the easiest way to inspire that engagement is through stories. Let them see what your values and desired results LOOK LIKE in reality. Use examples to illustrate what they should aspire to contribute with their daily tasks.
5. Grow relationships with unique activities
This is how you connect people with EACH OTHER. The challenge is to accomplish this without prompting dozens of eye-rolls and crossed arms and resistance. The key to great teambuilding events is to have a relevant set of activities that will truly IMPACT awareness and behaviors long after the smiles and laughter have passed. Relationships are the foundation for the collaboration that will improve team performance – and intentionally scheduling a program of team challenges and interactions can help your people become better teammates.
If you want your people to go all-in – if you want more buy-in for your team goals – it is important that you look over the above list and determine which of the five you are not doing enough of… and then do MORE of it.
Connecting people to a goal, connecting them to each other, and making sure they feel valued and trusted to do their job are vital to the development of committed teams.
As a teamwork speaker, I am passionate about sharing interactive messages with teams as an effective catalyst to build Rapid Teamwork and significantly better team performance!
