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Why is Organizational Alignment Important to You?
Written by: David LiddellArticle Overview: I am not convinced most people understand how to successfully (and intentionally) align the organization for short term gain and long term sustainable success. Establishing effective alignment starts with a well constructed strategy that has been vetted by the senior leadership team and Board of Directors, that can be understood by every employee in the organization.
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Why is Organizational Alignment Important to You?
Any reasonably successful business person would have a respectable answer for this question. Their answer may relate to themselves personally ("makes my job easier", "greater personal success", etc) or to the welfare of their company as a whole ("successfully meeting our goals", "helps building our brand", etc) but I am not convinced most people understand how to successfully (and intentionally) align the organization for short term gain and long term sustainable success.
Establishing effective alignment starts with a well constructed strategy that has been vetted by the (SLT) senior leadership team (and BOD if it applies) that can be understood by every employee in the organization. The SLT must be in consensus on the strategy and should revisit it at regular intervals to assess progress, performance, and make adjustments as needed. I consider this a "living" document that adapts to the business environment without compromising the intended meaning.
The vehicle for laying out the moving parts of the strategy is established through communication - written and verbal. This is a two way street in the form of providing direction as well as receiving feedback from all levels of your organization. In too many companies there exists this perception that all necessary information will magically flow to the people who require it but reality suggests otherwise. Good intentions are not enough - the SLT needs to clearly communicate direction, expectations, and goals to the next level down and this should continue all the way to the individual contributor. The feedback component is the tricky part. Real-time information is critical for making sound decisions and solving business problems - this only comes if your company leaders have built strong trusting relationships with their people who hold much of the information.
Cross functional challenges (typically at the department level) almost always occur due to conflicting priorities. Sure, one department head may consider the actions of another department head as divisive or damaging but my experience typically points to issues related to goal alignment. Referring back to the paragraph above, if goals are not "communicated" well, and keeping in alignment with the bigger strategy, divergence in thinking, priorities, and agendas occurs. And it only takes a little divergence at the top to evolve into more serious issues at the lower levels. This is usually when I am called in to "fix" the problem.
Employees in your organization make hundreds of decisions every day and all should be well aligned to your stated strategy. Some are more important than others but the question should be "how many were bad decisions and what did they cost the company". Granted, I am an advocate of the motto "just make a decision" because a non-decision can be far more damaging but you have to stop and think that an increase (even marginal) in good decisions will only help make your company a better and more profitable place to work. Well informed and aligned employees will make better decisions - period.
"We are great at setting direction but lousy at the execution piece". I hear this statement more often than you would think and it has plenty to do with discipline issues within senior leadership ranks however if the organization is not well aligned from top to bottom execution suffers greatly which may have less to do with discipline. Reflecting on the car analogy above, this misalignment causes distraction and results in company leaders putting our fires rather than executing on their strategic plans
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Article Tags: Cross functional challenges real time infirmation, organizational alignment, senior leadership team
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About the Author: David Liddell RSS for David's articles - Visit David's website  trusted advisor to organizations interested in improving their performance and results. Based on more than 20 years of experience in organizational and business development, he objectively evaluates organizations and their employees to identify opportunities for increased efficiencies and productivity. Recognizing that employees play a key role in a company's performance, David utilizes his analysis to create customized employee training and development solutions designed to enhance employee performance, leadership skills, team building, strategy planning and organizational development. He is widely respected for his skills as an expert problem solver, trainer, speaker, facilitator and coach. As a certified 360 Solutions training partner and Profiles International strategic business partner, he brings proven expertise to his creation of customized employee development solutions. Areas of Expertise David has assisted numerous companies in improving employee and organizational performance. Using a blended approach (assessments, training, coaching, strategic planning, and consulting), following is a sample of results achieved:
Background and Credentials Prior to founding SKYE Business Solutions, David honed his skills in organizational and business development, sales and marketing, business growth, and employee retention, training and coaching through his work in the manufacturing, technology distribution, computer software, and information technology consulting industries. David holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Concordia University and is active in numerous community and professionals organizations.Click here to visit David's website   What is Effective Project Management The Body Rejects the Organ Organizational Development Corporate Culture Executive Coaching and Its Value |
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