The Best Strategy for Building Consensus and Gaining Buy-In

Have you ever presented a brilliant strategy to your team only to be met with resistance, skepticism, and ultimately a failed implementation?

It happens way more often than it should and it's not because the strategy itself is bad.

It's because we, as leaders often go about building consensus and gaining buy in the exact wrong way and we don't even realize it. But today we're going to learn a simple framework that will change how you influence your team forever.

Hey everyone. I'm Doug Howard. I'm a leadership coach and consultant, and I help leaders unlock their full potential by teaching you how to master the human side of management.

Here on this channel, we explore leadership through the lens of soft skills, emotional intelligence, and influence. So if you're ready to build a thriving, engaged team, hit that subscribe button for more leadership tips.

Building Consensus and Gaining Buy In

Today's topic is a crucial one, and it's all about building consensus and buy in on your team. But more specifically, it's how to get your team on board with your strategy and your ideas.

By the end of this episode, you're going to have a powerful framework that will help you influence your team and help your team achieve your goals. But before we get started, I want to hear from you. Have you ever presented a great strategy only for it to be met with resistance from your team? Share your experiences in the comments below.

3 Common Mistakes Managers Make When Building Consensus

Let's face it. Many leaders struggle with building consensus on their teams and with cross functional teams and upper management. Some of the most common mistakes I see from the managers at the companies I've worked with or at the managers that I coach is, a mix of these things.

First, they dictate their vision without involving the team. So they're just doing one way communication without giving the team space to voice their concerns. What happens then is they fail to address those concerns or objectives effectively. So now the team develops more of a, I told you this wouldn't work mentality. They're trying to disprove why your idea wouldn't work versus working together with you to figure out how to make your idea work.

Another big mistake I see is that leaders often focus on a one size fits all approach when they're presenting their strategies and they ignore the individual needs and perspectives of people on their team. The unique things that go into each person's role on the team.

But here's the biggest mistake I see leaders make. They present information to their team once, and then they expect everyone to immediately buy in. It's this whole, I told everyone to do it one time so they should just remember this and do it. This is a fallacy. People are human. They don't remember everything and they need to be convinced. They need to be nurtured. They need to be coaxed. They need to be sold essentially. That's a big mistake is, just thinking if you tell your team this one time, they're going to just buy in.

What is Viral Diffusion?

Now these tactics lead to frustration, resistance, and ultimately a lack of commitment from your team. So how can we do better as leaders? The answer lies in understanding a powerful concept called viral diffusion. Now, viral diffusion explains how trends, ideas, and behaviors spread through a population.

I want you to think of it like a virus spreading, but instead of an illness, it's influence and it's adoption that's spreading throughout your team. Now this process involves four key player types. The first one is innovators. These are the early adopters. The third type is the late majority. And the fourth type is the laggards.

How does Viral Diffusion Work?

Now here's how the viral diffusion process works. It starts with the innovators. These people are the first to embrace new ideas. It's often driven by a desire from them to want to be on the cutting edge of something. These are the people that aren't stuck in their old ways. These aren't the people that are like, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. These are the people that will take something that's working and break it just to see if they can find a better way to do it. They just want to be on the cutting edge. They want to innovate. They want to find new ways of doing stuff. They want to just naturally challenge the status quo. Because of this, they actively seek out new information and they will readily champion innovative approaches.

The second group is the early majority. These people are more cautious, but they're still open to adopting new ideas as long as they see evidence of success. As long as they see positive experiences from the innovators before them

​The third group, the late majority, this group is way more skeptical. They're going to wait for widespread adoption before joining the bandwagon. They're often swayed by social proof or FOMO, fear of missing out.

The fourth group is the laggards. These individuals are the most resistant to change and they often require significant external pressure from peers or from management, or they require an overwhelming amount of evidence to adopt new ideas.

To show you how this process works, let's go back in time to 2007. Steve Jobs takes the stage and he unveils a revolutionary device, unlike anything the world has ever seen before. It's a cell phone, but it's also a music player, a camera, and it has a magic portal into the internet, all in your pocket.

Now, obviously I'm talking about the iPhone and when the first iPhone was released on the market, the innovators or the early adopters, these people lost their minds. These are the people you saw standing in lines that were wrapped around city blocks the day it came out. It's because these early adopters, they had to get their hands on this cutting edge gadget. There are just the early adopters, the innovators. But what about the rest of the world?

Let's just say they weren't exactly convinced yet. The early adopters, they were still clinging to their blackberries like they were the Holy Grail.

I don't get it. How does this thing work? There's no physical keyboard buttons to press.

That was the early adopters. But what about the late adopters and the laggards? They couldn't picture all the future possibilities from smartphones, so they were still content with their Motorola razors.

Okay, so maybe the pictures are a little blurry, but it still makes phone calls, it still sends texts, I can make a personalized ringtone, and I can even play Snake. So what else could I possibly need with a cell phone?

Meanwhile, the innovators, they were the cool kids. They were showing off their iPhones and it eventually got the early majority to slowly start peeking over their shoulders because they were intrigued by all the possibilities of the iPhone.

Wait, I can check Facebook, make online purchases, and play music on this.

As the trend gained momentum, the late majority eventually caved. FOMO became too strong, and they eventually ditched their Zack Morris phones for the new sleek iPhone.

Here's the thing about trends. They start with an initial spark, and then that spark catches fire once the innovators early adopt the trend. From there they become your enthusiastic evangelists, pitching your idea and helping others buy into the idea. Pretty soon the innovators have influenced the early majority to start buying in.

And that's when you start noticing that everyone's cousin's friend has an iPhone.

At this point, this is when the early majority starts to peek over their shoulder and they're wondering what's all the fuss about. Now, as this continues building momentum, the tide eventually starts to turn and the late majority eventually joins the party. Before you know it, even laggards like your grandma are playing Wordle on their iPhone.

Now I know what you're thinking. Okay, cool story, Doug, but how does this apply to leadership and influencing my team? Great question.

By understanding how viral diffusion works, you can leverage its power to build consensus and buy in on your team, as well as throughout your organization. Here's how.

When you're trying to gain buy in on a new idea or a new change, start by focusing on influencing the innovators first. These people are your champions. They're the people who are going to readily embrace your strategy and they're going to advocate for it within your team.

From there, you're going to want to partner with the innovators to gain buy in from the early majority. Do this by leveraging the influence of the innovators. Leverage the influence of your innovators by working together with them to come up with strategies for showcasing the benefits of your idea and for addressing the early majority's concerns early on. Once you've done that, you want to move on to gradually bring in the late majority by demonstrating widespread adoption and by addressing the remaining skepticism from the late majority. After that point, the laggards will be in the minority, and they won't want to get left behind, which will influence them to buy in.

Practical Framwork for Building Influence and Gaining Buy In

Now let's delve a little deeper into a practical framework for applying viral diffusion. First, you have to identify who your innovators are. Look for the early adopters on your team. These are the natural leaders within your team. These are also the individuals who are often curious, open to new ideas and who possess a certain level of influence on your team.

Second, cultivate relationships. Build strong relationships with your innovators. Understand their perspectives, address their concerns and involve them in shaping the strategy. This fosters trust and creates a sense of ownership in them.

Three, co create and champion. Instead of you coming up with the whole idea and strategy on your own, collaborate with your innovators to refine your strategy. Use their insights to address potential roadblocks, and then create a compelling narrative for the rest of the team to buy into.

This collaborative approach increases buy in. It helps you discover blind spots and it ensures that the strategy is going to resonate with your team's needs.

Number four, leverage social proof. Make sure you're showcasing the innovator's support and the positive impact of the strategy to gain buy in from the early majority. You want to do this by sharing success stories, share testimonials, and share data that demonstrates the benefits of this new strategy or idea.

Number five, address concerns and adapt. So you want to continuously address concerns from all team members, then adapt your approach if needed. But then from there, make sure you're continuously celebrating successes along the way. Open communication and a willingness to adapt are crucial for maintaining momentum and overcoming resistance.

Applying Influence Framework in Real Life Scenarios

Now let's see how this framework translates into action. Imagine you want to implement a new technology within your team. Here's how you can apply viral diffusion.

First, identify your innovators. Who are the tech savvy individuals who are always eager to try new things on your team?

Second, cultivate relationships. Once you've identified who the innovators are, discuss the new technology with them and make sure you understand their initial impressions and make sure you address any of their concerns because you need them to buy in right away.

Step three, co create and champion. Involve them in piloting the new technology, gather their feedback and co create a training plan to introduce it to the next level of the team.

Step four, leverage social proof. You want to showcase their positive experiences with the technology and the benefits that it brings.

​Step five, address concerns and adapt. Continuously address any anxieties from the team, provide ongoing support, and adapt the implementation plan based on the feedback you're getting.

Building consensus and buy in is a crucial leadership skill. By understanding viral diffusion and applying this framework, you can transform how you influence your team, overcome resistance and achieve your goals together.

But remember, influencing your team isn't just about horizontal communication. What about managing upwards? Or navigating office politics? Or getting buy in from other departments? If you're looking to improve in any of these areas, you should watch my episode called How to Influence Upward, Downward, and Cross Functionally.

You'll learn simple strategies for navigating different levels of the organization, building strong relationships with key stakeholders and mastering the art of influence across the board.

If you're ready to become a master influencer who can drive change and achieve success at all levels, be sure to check that episode out.

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