If there is one constant in the South Florida business market, it is this: Change is constant. In order to remain competitive, companies must always be modifying the structure of their business, the company culture, and specific processes. And just as change is inevitable, so is employee resistance to those changes. When you’re attempting to deploy a new process, resistance to the change can be frustrating for many managers. However, there are some guidelines that you can follow to help you quickly and effectively achieve buy-in from your team to a new process.
Strategies to Achieve Buy-In
Getting your team to buy into a new process takes work. You can wish, hope for and demand consensus, but that will put you on a fast track to nowhere. If you want your team to come around, you’ve got to approach change with a real strategy using these tactics:
- Stand Behind the Change: You can’t expect to sell a new process if you don’t believe in it yourself. Your team will see right through you if your justifications and defenses for change are not genuine.
- Show “What’s in it for Me”: Change disrupts the way people do their jobs. You must be able to show each team member how a change in process will improve their job over the long term, make their daily tasks a little easier and how the process will be of personal benefit.
- Make Time For Questions: Don’t jam a new process down the team’s throat with one-sided lectures and training sessions. Let them air their fears and ask any questions they may have. Sometimes simply talking things out can go a long way towards easing discomfort with change.
- Be Open to New Ideas: The team members who actually engage in the process will often have ideas on how to make that process even better. Be open to those ideas, applaud individuals for sharing their input and try to be flexible. Even if you cannot implement their changes, make contributors feel valued for stepping up and engaging.
- Identify Evangelists and Utilize Them: Take note of the team members who are the first to get on board with the new process. Ask them to help train others and get their co-workers more comfortable with the changes. Peer evangelism often carries more weight than management evangelism.
- Set Goals For Adoption: Set rewards-based team goals for adopting the new process. If everyone gets on board by a certain date, if errors are reduced by a certain percentage, etc., reward the group with a lunch or party or some other small token. You might even make it a friendly competition between your team and other teams in the department. Goals with solid dates are also important to show the team that there is no turning back and eventually the new process will be the only way to proceed.
Team buy-in will speed up the adoption of the new process. There will always be individuals who resist, fighting tooth and nail all the way, but the more team members who buy in quickly, the better. Approach changes in process strategically, and put yourself in your team members’ shoes. While you don’t want to allow them to circumvent the new process, you do want to be sensitive to the fact that changes can be frightening. With the right approach, you can achieve whole team buy-in.
If your Miami company is on the lookout for talented managers and leaders who foster idea sharing and creativity in the workplace while successfully navigating change, contact CERS today. We are a top-tier recruiting and consulting firm in South Florida that can help you locate and hire the right talent to drive your business forward. We are connected to a large, diverse candidate pool, and we can help you craft a plan for both your short- and long-term recruiting needs. Contact us to learn more about our proven methods for success.
