How aligned is your team?

If you asked your team to define the business your are in one sentence, how different their answers would be? If you were to ask your team to share the top three priorities for this quarter, will the answers be common?

Try it with your team. If you get really different answers, dont get shocked. The probability of getting the same answers is actually bleak. As managers, we feel that our teams are "not aligned" and "not engaged" with the goals of the team. How could that be when there is no clarity about what we aim to achieve as a team?

The effectiveness of communication is judged by the quality of understanding of the receiver. When you do this experiment with your team, it will undoubtedly emerge that there is a need for you as a leader to take charge, own communication and architect a rhythm that makes this flow of information and constant communication possible. Understanding about the business, business priorities, and requirements are like the oxygen for the team. 

Here are three steps to may help you setting up this rhythm: 

1. Clarity at the top. It is critical that the leadership team has sharp clarity on the mission, vision, values of the organization. This cannot be reinforced enough, as this becomes the north star for everyone. It provides the filter of who we are (and also of who we are not). This is not a fluffy document to be kept on the walls, but something that you want to refer to regularly as it becomes the guide for decision making.
2. Taking the vision to execution. One of the challenges for the leadership team is to link the mission, vision, values script to what teams do on a daily basis. There is a need to create a roadmap for the year that links the mission, vision, values document to actually define the priorities, goals, and milestones for the next 12 months. Followed by an immediate 90-day plan. Taking vision to execution is very important as this helps the team understand the connection between the destination and the journey and provides direction for everybody to align and contribute. 
3. Creating a rhythm of communication. When it comes to communication, there is no such a thing as “over communicating”. It is important for leaders to bring to the team the vision, mission, values and the annual & quarterly plans as many times as possible for these conversations, words, stories to be engrained in the system. I am a fan of Verne Harnish model of communication rhythm. He speaks about 4 important meetings: A daily huddle 15 minutes-stand-up meeting to cover updates, critical metrics, and roadblocks. A weekly 1-hour meeting to look at customer and employee voice, critical metrics and one strategic area. A monthly 2-hour meeting for learning and a quarterly full-day offsite focus on reviewing the annual plan and creating the next 90 day plan. 

These are three simple, yet not simplistic, steps to nail your communication rhythm as a leader. When it comes to communication and rhythm you are never done, I will love to hear what works for you. Please do share, eager to learn more!

This blog was first published in People Matters. Read here for more.