How Estate Agency Managers and Leaders Can Get Buy-In from Their Team

How to Get Buy-In from Your Team

Gaining buy-in from your team is a challenge faced by many companies, teams, managers, and business owners. It’s easy to sit down and outline what needs to be done: "We need to sell more, we need to market better, we need to improve customer service." Identifying these tasks is often the simple part, but it's not enough.

Going Beyond the "What"

Many leaders make the mistake of focusing solely on the "what" — listing what needs to be done without addressing the most critical aspects: the who, the when, and the how. To achieve real progress and buy-in from your team, you need to go beyond identifying tasks. You need to engage your team in an open conversation about how to accomplish these goals and who will be responsible for each step, and to set clear timelines for action.

Empowering Your Team

Creating an environment where your team feels empowered to bring ideas to the table is essential. Encourage open dialogue where team members feel confident that their ideas will be heard and respected. The goal is to build a culture where even ideas that don’t work out are welcomed, without fear of ridicule. Remember, the best ideas can come from anyone in the organization because everyone brings a unique perspective shaped by their own experiences and viewpoints.

The Importance of the "How"

Don’t rush through the planning process or gloss over the gritty details. A lot of people skip the difficult parts, but the magic lies in executing ordinary things in an extraordinarily organized and efficient way. Change is difficult, and it requires more than just knowing what needs to be done; it requires understanding how to do it and the challenges that might come with it.

Establishing the "How"

Before stepping away from your team, make sure everyone understands how they are going to achieve the goals. Every team member must buy into the "how" — they need to believe in the plan and feel like they have contributed to it. If the "how" doesn’t make sense to them, they won't be committed to executing it, and you won’t get the buy-in you need.

Setting the "Who" and "When"

Once you've established the "how," it’s time to define:

• Who will be responsible for each task.

• When these tasks will be carried out.

Setting clear expectations and timelines is crucial to ensure accountability. Without the "when," you can’t follow up effectively, and the momentum can be lost.

The Cycle of Continuous Improvement

Your meetings should follow a consistent structure:

1. Where are we now?

2. Where do we need to be?

3. What is the gap between where we are and where we want to be?

4. What steps do we need to take to bridge that gap?

5. How are we going to do it?

6. Who will take responsibility?

7. When will these actions take place?

8. When will we check in on progress and evaluate outcomes?

After each cycle, review the results. Did it work? If not, why not? Then, refine the plan and go through the cycle again. This process of continuous feedback and iteration is the key to building momentum and ensuring long-term success.

The Importance of the "Why"

Your team must understand the logic behind your goals and the reason you're asking them to do these things. The "why" has to be more than just about money. If people are only motivated by their paycheck, they’re going to adopt a short-term mindset, jumping from deal to deal or paycheck to paycheck. To foster long-term thinking, there needs to be a bigger purpose — a deeper "why" that drives their commitment.

Aligning Rewards with Expectations

Remember, you get what you reward. If you incentivize short-term gains, you will breed short-term thinking. To encourage a focus on long-term success, align your rewards with long-term goals. Expect and recognize efforts that contribute to the larger vision, not just immediate outcomes.

Conclusion

Getting buy-in from your team is about more than just telling them what needs to be done. It’s about engaging them in the process, making them part of the solution, and aligning their motivations with a clear purpose. It's about setting realistic goals, defining responsibilities, and creating a consistent rhythm of follow-ups to keep everyone on track. When you get the "who," "what," "how," "when," and "why" right, that's when true buy-in happens, and your team moves from merely executing tasks to owning the journey.