I hear people say "buy in" a lot. As in "we need to get buy in from the departments if this project is going to be successful".
What does this really mean? And how do you create it?
Having worked in an organization that was proactive in providing tools to leadership on how to deal with conflict, communicate and understand the diversity of strengths within the organization I learned the biggest barrier to "buy in" was myself.
"Buy in" is getting people to see the vision you have and actively take on the work to get there. I understand many people get most excited about the the ideas and projects they create. They have an innate connection to their projects because a piece of them is at the foundation.
As a Volunteer Manager I have often been in the position of creating a space of collaboration between people in the community and paid staff. This space forms out of providing a means for a community member to see themselves as being able to impact the organziation's mission and the opportunity to act on it, combined with paid staff seeing the value of working with these community members as volunteers.
This means not being over zealous and demand paid staff work with volunteers. Instead provide a space for them to see what possibility they can create by working with volunteers. This is not just a "working with volunteers" issues. Every time we need the support and help from coworkers we must truly listen in order to navigate around fear and anxiety and focus on whether the work we are planning is in the best interest of our community. And if it is, how do we get it done.
My excitement for a project has sometimes prevented me from truly enrolling coworkers in the vision and impact of a project. When people don't "buy in" to the idea it is easy to feel abandoned and not supported. The take away of "not feeling supported" is something that is easy to bring into every interaction and planning meeting afterwards. This feeling gets in the way of getting work done. This cycle will only be disrupted if I understand my way of being is at the root of the issue. How I approach others to get them on board, how I dismiss their concerns, how I don't take into account their current workload all might be factors in not getting the "buy in" I want.
All the tools, books and workshops an organization provides to its staff will fall short if we as individuals do not go to work on ourselves first. "Buy in" is not something separate from ourselves, it does not exist as its own entity. "Buy in" is a result of who we are and how we act.
What does this really mean? And how do you create it?
Having worked in an organization that was proactive in providing tools to leadership on how to deal with conflict, communicate and understand the diversity of strengths within the organization I learned the biggest barrier to "buy in" was myself.
"Buy in" is getting people to see the vision you have and actively take on the work to get there. I understand many people get most excited about the the ideas and projects they create. They have an innate connection to their projects because a piece of them is at the foundation.
As a Volunteer Manager I have often been in the position of creating a space of collaboration between people in the community and paid staff. This space forms out of providing a means for a community member to see themselves as being able to impact the organziation's mission and the opportunity to act on it, combined with paid staff seeing the value of working with these community members as volunteers.
This means not being over zealous and demand paid staff work with volunteers. Instead provide a space for them to see what possibility they can create by working with volunteers. This is not just a "working with volunteers" issues. Every time we need the support and help from coworkers we must truly listen in order to navigate around fear and anxiety and focus on whether the work we are planning is in the best interest of our community. And if it is, how do we get it done.
My excitement for a project has sometimes prevented me from truly enrolling coworkers in the vision and impact of a project. When people don't "buy in" to the idea it is easy to feel abandoned and not supported. The take away of "not feeling supported" is something that is easy to bring into every interaction and planning meeting afterwards. This feeling gets in the way of getting work done. This cycle will only be disrupted if I understand my way of being is at the root of the issue. How I approach others to get them on board, how I dismiss their concerns, how I don't take into account their current workload all might be factors in not getting the "buy in" I want.
All the tools, books and workshops an organization provides to its staff will fall short if we as individuals do not go to work on ourselves first. "Buy in" is not something separate from ourselves, it does not exist as its own entity. "Buy in" is a result of who we are and how we act.
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