I work extensively with nonprofit and corporate organizations to help them gain clarity around their strategy for the future.
We spend significant time looking at past performance, understanding the competitive landscape, market trends and drivers, as well as talking with customers and/or users of their offering.
The result of this process and planning is a roadmap for the future.
Yet it’s not enough just to have a roadmap. You need to take next steps to ensure the team responsible for day-to-day implementation is set up to be effective and drive impact — and sometimes it can be a struggle to get your team on the same page.
Here are my 5 hacks for aligning your team with your strategy. Try them out and see what a difference they make:
Involve – The best way to get alignment is to involve key leadership right from the beginning. Your team has deep subject-matter expertise and knowledge about how to get the work done, and this experience is a critical for succeeding with an ambitious strategy. When it's coupled with a disciplined process and external perspective, you have a winning combination. In short, if you want people to buy-in, start with an inclusive, open, transparent planning process.
Communicate – It’s not practical to involve every single person in the strategic planning process. So it’s really important for the leader of the organization communicate openly and regularly about the process. This is a great opportunity to talk about the importance of strategy setting to the overall performance of the organization, as well as to inspire strategy-supporting behaviors and actions. Planning takes time and often pulls managers away from their day-to-day roles, leaving employees with the brunt of the work. So also use your communication to keep everyone updated on where your organization is in the process, what has been accomplished thus far and what's next.
Make it Personal – One way to get your team on board is to translate organizational strategy in a way that makes it more meaningful to them. Everyone wants to be part of a winning team, so spend time explaining how their jobs, work and effort generate positive results for the organization and have a big impact on the ultimate success of the strategy.
Measure – When you take the time to measure progress against your plan, it demonstrates to your team that you’re taking it seriously. That the strategy, goals and objectives are real and tied to KPIs or other metrics that are important to your organization. It’s also an effective and objective way to reward and correct the actions of your team.
Adjust – As you measure progress toward goals, it’s only natural that you’ll need to make some adjustments along the way. This isn’t a sign of a failed strategy or planning process. Instead, it’s proof of a living, dynamic process that learns in real time. Pivots or adjustments can also further demonstrate to your team that their work is seen and their feedback is heard.
