Getting member "buy in"
On a team I am involved with the focus seems to be on each member protecting their individual “rice bowlsâ€. Any new suggestion is met with suspicion from members trying to determine how it will affect their departments work load
I am open to any suggestions, beyond what we have learned in class to counteract this phenomenon.
David,
Protectionism is a learned behavior based on a company’s culture. The best way to break down barriers is to build up trust. Managers can do this by “walking the walk†and being fair with the distribution of resources. It takes time. If any other students have comments, I hope they will reply.
Dr. Jamie Morley
I Agree with Dr. Morley without the trust in the relationship with the staff under you and the fair distribution of resources, the staff members will fill they are neglected and not a part of the team as a whole.
Dr. Reed
Rick,
As you know, lack of trust is a team killer! And once lost, it takes a long time to reestablish. Although it seems ridiculously simple, enabling people to provide input into a meeting agenda and then distributing minutes that show the status of projects, goes a long way in establishing trust and a feeling of inclusion. Many managers take minutes for granted, but they make a huge difference and aid in accountability as well since you can refer back to them to show who was supposed to do what.
Dr. Jamie Morley
At my company we have been through a tremendous amount of changes in the last couple of years. Some for the better, but a lot that have caused problems and been retracted. A stigma that is present in the culture lately is what I call the "Flavor of the Week" syndrome; every time a new plan or change is introduced it is automatically deemed to be the idea of the week/month/year by the faculty that have been here for a while and have seen the change. I think giving the employees more say in things and making sure to check in and follow up with them honestly and openly about the progress is the single best technique to help things improve.
Randy,
Your idea about giving employees more say in the decisions is a good idea. That encourages ownership. Unfortunately, that is a reactive stance. It is much better to be in a proactive mode. If possible, have a planning day and set up a strategic plan. Even if your plan is only for the department, it shows everybody which changes might be coming. Having a plan, and then making changes based on market forces or other factors, is still better and more transparent, than seemingly making changes for change sake.
Dr. Jamie Morley
David, you bring up a very good point (buy in.) One of the methods I use to get members to buy in to a project is to use WIFM. What's In It For Me. By using WIFM it gives the members a sense of getting something out of the project.
Joe
Joseph,
If you are dealing with teachers on your team, often times, WIIFS – “What’s in it for the students†is also effective. We always need to ensure that the decisions we make benefit the customer, and for most of us, our customer is a student.
Dr. Jamie Morley
