Everyone has a threshold of buy-in!
Today’s post is from our archives at SafeSourcing.
Whether the focus is believing in a leader, a boss (there’s a difference 😉 a spouse, a product, or even themselves, there is a threshold at which a number of perceived failures will begin to cause people to stop believing in certain proposed possibilities. For some people their threshold is very low; all it takes is one setback, one negative comment, one harsh statement from the boss, to get them to lack belief in the viability of a positive outcome. While we can’t pander to everyone’s insecurities, there are ways to start rebuilding confidence, and expanding the perceived realm of possibility for your team.
One such way is to create small wins. A series of small accomplishments for an individual can be a huge bolster to Buy-in. A boss that follows through with his promises is more likely to be trusted when he asks the impossible of his employees. When a leader consistently demonstrates that greater things can be accomplished than what others thought was possible, co-workers will start increasing their self-expectations.
This is one of the greatest differences between incentivizing productivity through negative consequences and positive expectations. You can get people to scramble through fear, but you can’t get them to believe that what you’re proposing is achievable. And study after study has shown that a workforce that believes in a common purpose is always more effective than one that would rather see the project fail because they resent the fear tactics.
Learning what the threshold of buy in is, and consistently exceeding those expectations one step, one “win” at a time, is essential to managing a buy-in paradigm shift. Creating buy- in is what keeps clients patronizing your business; your employee’s following your vision, and your self-confidence high enough to accomplish your goals.
If you’d like to discuss getting your e-procurement program off to a quick start with focused small wins, please contact a SafeSourcing Account Manager.
We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
