How to align your team
3 key components to create alignment and achieve great things as a team.
Alignment doesn't just happen, leaders create it.
Here are three things you can do today to align your team and create a healthy work culture that attracts top talent to your organisation:
Create a compelling mission
The first job of a leader is to point to the horizon and show people where they’re going, and why it matters. This is where a clear vision and mission statements are needed. There's nothing quite as powerful as a clear and compelling mission to bring people and resources together. When employees understand a company’s mission and how they contribute to it—they are more fulfilled and focussed.
Communicate clear objectives
Have you ever dealt with a customer that had unclear (or unrealistic) expectations? It can be extremely frustrating, and it can happen within your own team. Clear objectives of what success looks like help teams and the individuals within them set priorities and take responsibility. It also enables you to set milestones and measure progress, and celebrate that progress. Nothing is more frustrating than ambiguity.
Build trust
It doesn’t end with communication… For true alignment to take place, people have to trust each other. Without trust, people won’t take the risk required to fulfil the mission. As leaders, we’d be mistaken to think that we’re entitled to trust by virtue of hiring someone. That's not the case. Trust can only be earned over time, through personal connection and a commitment to the success of your team.
To recap, create alignment in your team by:
creating a compelling mission for people to rally around and inspires action, then
communicate the objectives so there’s no confusion about what’s important and who’s responsible, and finally
focus on building trust with your team members by committing to their success as they do to yours.
Mission, clear objectives, and trust. These are just three components among many needed to create alignment and achieve great things together.
Related Training: Mission Statement Made Simple
