How do you create emotional buy in among your team and maintain an effective dialogue?

Global Accounting Network
Global Accounting Network
Global Accounting Network
How do you create emotional buy in among your team and maintain an effective dialogue?
Employee Engagement, Motivation and Retention: The second blog instalment of our Thought Leadership Series
How do you create emotional buy in among your team and maintain an effective dialogue?

Everyone is different; something that drive one person to give their all may not be as meaningful or inspirational to another. So how do you motivate a team of diverse talent to each give their absolute discretionary effort? The key is to break down both team motivators and individual motivators by means of effective dialogue, and to ensure that there is true emotional buy in among your organisation. Dialogue is the life-blood of every organisation; however it’s often the case that meaningful conversations are not a genuine focus or priority within an organisation. Without this, how can you have a team who are bought into the fantastic work that your organisation does, and by extension, you as a leader? A happy, engaged employee is an advocate for your company. An unhappy one can go as far as to be a detractor, which is especially relevant in the digital age that we’re experiencing where everything that is said online is there for all to see.

The Emotional Buy In

Without a genuine emotional buy in from your team, you will not be able to have a forum for honest and effective dialogue. How do you tune the culture and values to excite your team who are responsible for driving success? One of the methods discussed by our speakers was to include them in the decision of what your core company values are and to help define your culture. This method can be used as a great team-building event. During an off-desk meeting you could ask every team member, from receptionist up to CEO, to write down what they believe your core company values are. When you all share them with each other, these values and behaviours really should all be very similar if your brand message is strong - unless your organisation is entirely disengaged or this hasn’t yet been determined. The important part is to accept that there are no wrong answers; the exercise is to collectively determine which you agree on most. You can then determine which five or six values best represent your entire organisation. This should cover your team, your culture and your organisation’s purpose.

Display these values for everyone to see and incorporate them into every team meeting or event. If your team members know and feel they were a true part in determining what you all stand for, they will also feel they were instrumental in a core part of defining the company culture.

The Effective Dialogue

If you’re in a leadership position with a fully engaged and motivated team, chances are you’ve had to earn the right to be heard. It’s not as easy for people to truly believe your motivational talks, your announcements and your instructions unless they feel they are genuinely valued and included in the company rather than just another ordinary employee. Below are just a few of the easy ways which we discussed to engage with your team on personal basis to be implemented, and will be highly effective if routine and sincere.

  • One-to-one meetings – both formal and informal: find out what drives them, what their aspirations are both generally and within the company, and what they need from you to reach their potential. This could be scheduled in over a monthly or weekly catch up, as well as over a pint every now and then. You can then work together on how this can be built into their progression plan and show that you want to develop people.
  • Group forums: get everyone together to explain why certain objectives are in place and find out how effective people feel they are. Encourage open and honest discussion about how your team operates, what they feel their strengths are as well as how they feel things can improve, and be completely open to what they suggest.

Ask questions and listen to the answers in full. They are the front line of your company; ensuring that they are happy and feeling fulfilled means they will naturally exude enthusiasm and empowerment when dealing with your clients, customers, and each other.

We discussed the other ways you can create emotional buy in and maintain an effective dialogue – our white paper will discuss this in full so keep an eye out on our Twitter, LinkedIn and Blog Page for its release!
How do you create emotional buy in among your team and maintain an effective dialogue?
Date: 25 April 2013
Author: Adrian O'Connor
Tags: