On this project there has been a lot of talk about buy in. If a company would like support from their employees for something it is like they are selling it to them, so are looking for a buy in.
Why is this important? Ever work for a company where it was an “us against them” feel and everyone grumbled about everything? Change rarely occurred and when it did no one knew much of anything and everyone was negative?
That kind of company does not work on firm buy in, or does not know how. Communication is part of it. But what to communicate?
- What is going to happen.
- Why it is happening.
- When it is happening.
Be honest. If you are moving to a new system because the old one is inadequate, say so.
Be honest. Nothing is perfect, point out the positive and the negative. If you give logical reasons why people will accept the change. Several times I have been told that trainers should never say anything negative about a product. Always be honest, if there is something that does not work, or is more difficult then your current software people will find out and if you were honest and open about it from the start they won’t have a problem but if you are not they will take that as a reason to hate the change.
Be realistic. Buy in will never happen if you lie, gloss over negative parts people may find important or repeat old mistakes.
The last is usually why I see a failure to buy in. The company buys a glossy new system, installs it, tells people they have to use it. The people who bought it did not understand how the people use it, so it does not do what the people expect it to. Another thing is language. The language of computer, software, change is not always the language the people use. I was teaching and had several people from the software company tell me I should use a specific word, but the people I was teaching would not understand that word, so I used a different one, and told them that in the program they were using it was called x.
Talk with the people using it from the start, if they like it, they can help with firm wide buy in. Don’t always choose the people who complain the most either, a good variety of super users, average users and those who cannot will show you how everyone will react.
