8 questions to consider.
by rob nixon
one of the most common questions in relation to team members is getting them to buy in to your new ideas. having your team right behind you as you conquer the world!
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team buy-in is all about change management. the more aligned you are as a business, the faster and easier you will be able reach your goals.
for a traditional accounting practice that has been operating the same way for a long period of time then (unless you change your entire team) change will take some time – but not as long as you think. however, what you will find is that many of your team members are just waiting for something exciting to happen.
with change and buy-in you have to remember a few things:
- your team (and your business) have been doing the old way for many years.
- the new way may seem to make sense but some of the team think the old way is not really broken – you are getting by doing what you are doing.
- change management is not a singular event – you constantly have to drive it.
so with that in mind here are some ideas you can do to change behavior and get constant buy-in:
- search for the reasons why you want to change from a leadership level. you need to have the leadership team (other partners and/or key stakeholders) buy into the change first, otherwise you have little hope of success. alignment at the shareholder level is crucial to your success. the shareholders must have objectives that they are motivated by. if your shareholders are comfortable, not ambitious, have no goals and very happy with the status quo (and you are the opposite) then you will have some major difficulties. you may need to leave your current business or get some new shareholders! if you need to bring in some outside help to guide you through this, then do it.
- decide what it is you want to change. do you want to change the entire business or just some tactical aspects like pricing up front instead of pricing in arrears? make a list of the critical strategies that need attention and prioritize them. get the list to be as short and succinct as possible. in my business we focus on five key priorities each quarter and then we have the no. 1 priority that when implemented the rest follow. we have quarterly business priorities, ceo priorities, team priorities and individual priorities.
- decide who needs to change. is the entire team involved or just a critical few? my advice is that the entire team should be involved with doing something.
- decide when you want to change. too much change too fast can cause disruption. spread the change out over a few years. have a 10-year, three-year, one-year and 90-day plan.
- decide what the non-negotiable rules (e.g all jobs priced up front, value pricing, proactive focus, client communication strategy) are from a leadership level. it’s your business. you may not tell the team the rules just yet – you might need to have the team buy into the new rules.
- conduct events that show your team why they need to change. this could include regular training, seminars, client case studies, industry facts, internal testing, social proof of other firms that have been successful.
- always bring it back to wiifm – what’s in it for me! your team are interested in a better working environment, their enjoyment, salary and benefits, fulfilling work, clients’ success and career development.
- promote, promote, promote and don’t give up. if you believe that change needs to happen and it is in the best interests of your business then be like a dog with a bone. if after constant coaching of your team they do not buy in, then coach them out.
in response to a recent forum post by a new member on “getting team buy-in,” one of our most successful clients (david) wrote this excellent response:
“this is by far the biggest challenge that you will face on your journey. we have been around coaching club since day one and with up to 100 people to keep engaged, i have constantly been challenged with this question. i am sure that you have heard of the word chunking. well, we take the list of things to be done, break them down into chunks and then allocate the responsibility for implementation to accountants within the business. not partners or managers but everyday accountants who are on the floor and at the coal face. they would report their progress to me monthly and i would give them all the support they needed to implement the change.
“i always found that getting the partners and managers to commit was the easy part because i dealt with them regularly. the best way to get everyone else involved was then to charge them with the responsibility of making it happen. partners and managers have enough responsibility. i would run a competition to see who could implement things the best. at the end of a period (could be six months or whatever was appropriate) i would award a prize for the most successful person (and their group). this always ensured that things were happening as the drive was from the staff and the prize was always well sought after.”
buy-in is not a singular event. it takes time to change people’s behavior.