Get Your Board to Buy-in to Expanding Your Capacity

We once wrote a contract to buy a house and failed to sign the deposit check.  We thought we were committed.

You may, for instance, be considering hiring a new employee or increasing wages for your employees–capacity building investments. Attracting and retaining talent generates progress on your mission and good word on the street investment, which, in turn, inspires more support and revenue. (Watch How Can You Keep Your Employees Now to learn the building blocks of an employee retention plan.)

1. Make Sure You Are Convinced Enough to Sign the Check

2. Offer New Information and Hope

• Introduce new facts. “I researched your questions last week. Here’s data on our expected returns.”
• Reference peers. “The orchestra’s board, whom we admire, made a similar decision with stellar results.”
• Reframe the investment in their self-interest.”When you pull this off, people will see your leadership as the turning point in our history.”
• Invite them to help you to reduce any risks.  “Yes, this involves some risks. Here’s how I plan to offset it? Did I miss anything?”

Why is new information so powerful? It allows your members to save face. Before they decided based on what they knew, the updated information allowed them to come to a different conclusion.