A Business' Secret Weapon
Alignment
"If you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time."
Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Sounds like a BOLD business objective, doesn’t it? Dominating any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time…
ROWING IN THE SAME DIRECTION is the concept of alignment – and this is your secret weapon for making it happen in your business.
Sports teams provide great parallels to business. Think about successful teams from the recent and distant past; The New England Patriots - The 49ers in the 80’s; The Boston Red Sox. What winning teams have in common is that everybody, from the locker room to the owner’s suite, everyone is on the same page, dedicated to a common goal – win games. Period. The coaches, the players, the owners – they are tremendously aligned. The result? Championships.
If you are a solo-preneur, the alignment is between your head, your heart and your actions. Are they all in alignment? Head: Can you articulate your business objectives? Heart: Do you have a burning desire to achieve these objectives? Action: Are you doing what you know you need to do to achieve these objectives? This is alignment and it is critical to success.
If you are a business owner or executive with employees, how aligned are your people? Is there a common vision you, as the leader, communicate so everyone knows the business objectives? Do they know how their job contributes to achieving the objective? “How aligned is your team?” can be a tough question to answer. Take a look and answer the questions below. Score your answers, which will give you a general idea of how aligned your employees are with your vision.
How Aligned is Your Team?
Consider each of the following statements and then rate your leadership team as follows:
1 = Never
2 = Rarely
3 = About half the time
4 = Most of the time
5 = All the time
1. We have a strategic plan and regularly monitor the progress being made.
2. Managers and employees alike are open and honest with one another.
3. Everyone knows and can articulate our business vision.
4. Everyone knows and can articulate their role in reaching the business goals.
5. I can count on others to do their part.
6. When we agree to something in a meeting, we demonstrate this decision outside the room.
7. We are one another’s biggest fans – we each have the full support of the team.
8. Employees tie personal success with organizational / team success.
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A score of 34 or higher means your employees are clear about the vision and are “rowing in the same direction” to achieve this vision, which is reflected in your business results.
A score of 28-33 may mean that there’s some work to do. Perhaps you’ve had a recent influx of new clients or a new product launch or something else that has stressed your employees a bit. Communication, communication, communication is key here. Stay close to the employees, reinforcing the vision, objectives and how important their role is to the success of the whole.
If you scored under 28, your results, and therefore business performance, are almost certainly being hampered by a lack of alignment. This non-alignment may be reflected by symptoms such as missed deadlines, over-budget projects, declining customer satisfaction scores, under performing sales teams, expense over runs, etc.
What to do??
It all starts with a BOLD vision shared throughout the organization, so:
Clearly communicate each person's role, responsibilities and your expectations;
Keep your eye on the progress being made - Don't ever think your over-site isn't necessary or doesn't matter;
Holding others as well as yourself accountable for fulfilling their roles and meeting expectations to achieve the objective; and
Celebrating like crazy, the successes along the way.
Take this quiz - if you have employees or manage a team, share it with the others and determine your team’s average score. Armed with your results, you can create a road map complete with follow-up strategies that will lead to the breakthrough results you need to Make It Happen.
It all starts with a BOLD vision shared throughout the organization, so:
Clearly communicate each person's role, responsibilities and your expectations;
Keep your eye on the progress being made - Don't ever think your over-site isn't necessary or doesn't matter;
Holding others as well as yourself accountable for fulfilling their roles and meeting expectations to achieve the objective; and
Celebrating like crazy, the successes along the way.
Take this quiz - if you have employees or manage a team, share it with the others and determine your team’s average score. Armed with your results, you can create a road map complete with follow-up strategies that will lead to the breakthrough results you need to Make It Happen.
You're invited - On September 19, from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. at the Cumberland Club in Portland, Maine, you're invited to join us for an free discussion about alignment in business and how peer advisory groups can help small business owners get there. The event is free but space is limited so reservations are important. Please call 207-221-3492 or contact us via our website - www.BoldVisionConsulting.com for more information or to register.
For upcoming Bold Vision programs and events bookmark the Bold Vision Calendar and check back from time to time.
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