Too often, the work of reviewing progress, evaluating efforts and retooling strategies is completed by a very small group of people within an organization – and the results are known by those individuals only. This approach limits the effectiveness and benefit that can be derived from a summer check-in.
Guiding and communicating the results of your analysis with the entire organization is critical to make sure that your team is motivated and clear on strategy. Equally, providing guidance based on those results to the entire organization builds awareness and excitement around the authenticity, importance and relevance of organizational purpose and goals. This encourages the right behaviors and supports a culture that is aligned with purpose and goals.
Here are my 5 hacks for more effectively guiding your organization's leadership and your team:
Know that strategy and culture are two key levers for leaders. In a progress review, you’re not going to have a wild shift in strategy or culture. Strategy is the logic behind your goals and how you orient your team around them. Culture expresses goals through your organizational values and beliefs. Showing your team that you are committed to reviewing and measuring performance and willing to adjust in order to better align with and achieve goals can reinforce organizational culture and the values of agility, innovation and flexibility. There may also be other elements of your strategy that present themselves during your check-in that you want to emphasize in order to shape culture for your organization.
Keep the message simple, but deep in meaning. Develop a simple message about your strategy and goals, demonstrating how they relate to the day-to-day work of the organization. This will help unite the team and encourage deeper caring for the organization and the job they do.
Link internal strategy to market realities. In order to understand how your strategy is different and better than others in the market, your team needs to understand how the market, customers and competitors view your organization. This perspective will help bring your organization's strategy to life for more people.
Explain why the adjustments matter. Don’t assume that everyone will understand the need to correct course part way through the year. Provide guidance about why these changes matter strategically and how they will help create and capture value. Clarifying the “why” behind the “what” is important for facilitating adoption and acceptance.
Align incentives to reflect changes. People want to understand how they are being rewarded. If your check-in results in changes to incentives, roles or compensation, you need to clearly communicate those changes and their impact to your team to reassure and confirm how they will be incentivized.
