Getting Beyond “Yes” – When Agreement is Not Enough

Remember that time when you prepared for a flawless, powerful, convincing presentation to a group of important stakeholders?   You knew you would have to influence their thinking through relevant facts and passion for a strategy you believed to be the best path forward.  You may have even felt that no one in the room had done the homework nor had as much knowledge as yourself in this domain.

You were going for a collective ‘yes’, clear support for the idea and your recommendation for action.  It may have even seemed you got the ‘yes’ – Heads were nodding, and you were thanked for your work.  Perhaps everyone smiled as you left the room and suddenly a sinking feeling overcame your fleeting sense of success as you heard comments like this:  “That’s a great piece of work Joan, good luck with it going forward.”

What just happened? You got to yes, but do you really have support? 

Don’t fool yourself. For those big, important projects and mission critical business goals, getting agreement is never enough. These projects require real alignment from those you depend on to execute the plan.

Alignment takes agreement from “Hey great idea!” to “I’m in this with you.” This means everyone in the room is willing to rethink their own priorities and resource allocation to help make this big idea happen.  The best sports metaphor to illustrate this is that you want them out of the stands as spectators, and on the field with you as part of the team, with skin in the game, available to block and tackle, helping take the ball down the field for a winning result.

So why do we so often end our well-prepared presentation accepting a simple positive response and endorsement that our ideas are good and worth pursuing?   I think the answer is simple. . .  It feels good and perhaps even unexpected to get endorsement for a proposal hard won.

We declare victory too soon and avoid the real acid test of success. . . Is everyone willing to make the tough trade-offs to make this proposal work?   This requires moving from happy acceptance to tough dialogue on resources and priorities.

Fear is natural. When we dive into the tough conversations that move from agreement to alignment – we often are concerned that we may lose even basic agreement in the process.  Ultimately, your mission-critical goal will require this process. Getting to it faster will make sure your project moves more quickly to success.

How do you assure you have true alignment and not cheap agreement?  Shore up your resolve and follow these basic steps:

1. First, confirm you have broad agreement – Don’t let a few nodding heads speak for the room.  Ask, “I see a few people nodding their heads, what do the rest of you think?”  Most likely, there are concerns that need to be addressed and it’s better to flush them out early.
2. When ready, pivot to an alignment– Once basic agreement to a plan is established, it’s time to focus on an invest conversation. Be prepared with specific requests you have of each stakeholder in the room.  What time, money, and talent do you need from them?  If they balk, be clear on what a lack of investment on their part will mean to the project.  For example, I once said to a room of leaders regarding a multi-year plan to implement an enterprise software solution, “That’s OK, if this isn’t a priority to put our best people on right now, my team can go work on something else.  We have a lot on our plate as well.”  That forced a deeper reflection in the room and ultimately a decision to assign the resources required to go forward confidently with the plan.
3. Confirm alignment with each person – Again, make sure each person has weighed in and confirmed what they are willing to provide to make this happen. Sometimes it requires negotiation and that is OK.  Their “yes” won’t mean “yes” if they are not able to counter propose and problem solve.  Though sometimes tense, this process can yield even better resource solutions.
4. Remember, alignment is not granted in perpetuity – Once secured, alignment can drift over time. Circumstances continue to evolve, and people even forget decisions if not acted on right away.  Realize you must build sponsorship every day.  Don’t be afraid (or upset) to check alignment and have further conversations as required to shore up the shared commitment so necessary for long term success.
5. Finally, don’t forget to report on success as it is occurring – Your stakeholders may not be watching closely and sometimes assume no news is bad news. Don’t wait for an invitation, proactively report progress to keep alignment strong and have everyone enjoy the role they played in the success of a challenging project.

If you find yourself hesitant or stuck, give us a call. A short coaching call might be enough to help you move rapidly forward. Give us a call or email us for more information.