Signs Your Team's Strategic Alignment Needs Improvement

Is your team's strategic alignment in need of improvement? If you're wondering if this is an issue with your company or department, you will want to address it as soon as possible.

A lack of alignment company-wide can have costly implications. To see if your company needs improvement in this important area, keep reading. In this guide, we will go over some key signs that your team alignment is off, as well as giving you tips for executing strategies that can improve your team alignment.

An Unclear Vision or Mission

Your company's mission, vision, or purpose is the thread that keeps your company working together like a well-oiled machine. To create a successful team, all members need to know what they are doing and why. The overall company mission is something your team members can look to for clarity.

This is a must for allowing your employees to feel encouraged towards a common goal. This allows there to be a clear focus on what is most important to your company. This focus creates alignment that will avoid your team heading in different directions all at once.

Micromanagement Instead of Leadership

Micromanaging is not only a waste of a leader's time, but it can also frustrate employees and negatively affect their morale. Typically, the root cause of micromanagement is that strategic alignment is not in place. This could mean that there is a lack of understanding or trust between leaders, managers, department heads, and the teams they oversee.

Hiring trusted, experienced, and professional employees will likely mean that they will be competent at what they do. However, they also must understand what needs to be accomplished and why it's important. For this reason, leading teams with clarity and understanding should be the replacement for micromanagement.

Conflicting Priorities

If you notice your team members or departments all seem to be working towards different, conflicting priorities, this is a sign that your company is not on the same page. This is often due to a lack of alignment that is not focused on the big picture. You may notice these conflicting priorities come up when there are disagreements concerning resource or budget allocation.

It may also show up when team members disagree on what tasks should be performed first. To resolve conflicting priorities, your team should have a clear understanding of goals and priorities at the highest level. These goals and priorities need to be clearly communicated and understood at every level of the organization.

The better the understanding of your business priorities is, the better abled your team members are to make decisions in favor of the most important business goals.

Strengthen Your Team's Strategic Alignment

If you're noticing some of the issues mentioned above, there is likely an issue with your team's strategic alignment. A strategic planning facilitator can help. Aligning your teams is a must for achieving your company's overall goals, making it a must for success.

Are you looking for professional assistance when it comes to strategically aligning your teams? One of our specialties is designing a customized Strategic Performance Alignment project for your company. Contact Erin today.