The Alignment Factor. Achieve business success through organizational alignment.

Transcription

1 The Alignment Factor Achieve business success through organizational alignment.

2 Table of Contents Achieving Business Success through Organizational Alignment...3 What Is Alignment?...4 Close-Up On Alignment...5 The Most Important Question...5 How To Recognize An Alignment Problem...6 The Two Keys To Improving Alignment...6 The Twelve Alignment Factors... 7 Alignment Area: Commitment...7 Alignment Area: Communication...7 Alignment Area: Culture...7 Alignment Area: Collaboration...8 Alignment Area: Commitment...8 A Way Of Life...8

3 Achieving Business Success through Organizational Alignment If you are a business owner or Key Decision Maker (KDM) in your company and can answer yes to the following statements, then you have no need to read further: A clear company vision has been established, and I am comfortable communicating it. My direct reports understand my vision of where I want to take the business and are leading their teams in a direction that will achieve my vision. The company effectively motivates employees to achieve goals. Most people who work here feel fulfilled. Internal procedures are so clearly communicated in writing that the company operates effectively. If you are a Direct Report (DR) of the KDM perhaps a department head and can answer YES to the following questions, then you have no need to read further: Do you consistently bring a high degree of value to the company? Right now, would you say you are satisfied with the impact you have on your organization? Are you using your abilities to the maximum potential on behalf of your company? Would you say that, on a typical day, there is universal clarity about critical work priorities? If you can t enter YES to all of these, read on A lack of alignment between the KDM and the executives who report directly to him or her will keep a company from achieving its highest potential for success and, in extreme cases, destroy the business. Now, I realize none of us need anything new to worry about. Yet this is exactly why the alignment issue is so important: whatever we re already worrying about probably connects to a lack of alignment between the KDM and DRs. That means both sides are in for rising levels of frustration and stress; unless they work together to get aligned. 3

4 What Is Alignment? Alignment is the side-by-side effective working relationship in an organization that generates great results. In an aligned relationship, both parties have respect for each other and are committed to the same company goals. Alignment makes both KDMs and DRs more effective. Maintaining alignment is a mutual, ongoing responsibility. When that responsibility is neglected and it usually is in privately owned companies the result is frustration, stress, wasted time, wasted effort, and wasted money. These outcomes are common experiences for anyone responsible for running a business. What we may not always realize is that the stress and other challenges we face have much more to do with the dynamics within our own team than with external circumstances. 4

5 Close-Up On Alignment During my career as a business leader and an advisor to other business leaders, I ve seen time and time again that the most critical prerequisite to the success of my own businesses, and those of the people I have advised, is alignment. I believe DRs are the key to transformation, survival, and growth for virtually every company. With great alignment, DRs can become the engine for achieving truly great results within your organization, no matter what challenges and obstacles the company may be facing. Why? Because I ve seen some extraordinary results, both in my own career and in companies I ve led and had the honor to help as a coach. All of those situations where executive teams were transformed not some but all involved generating higher levels of performance from the DRs. There is a catch, though. These positive results from the DRs only occurred because of the high level of aligned engagement between the KDM and the DRs. Not only that: the improved alignment brought about significantly increased effectiveness from the KDM. In all cases, it was the aligned relationship that made these results possible. The aligned relationship is what creates great companies by creating higher-producing DRs. The Most Important Question Usually, when we ask DRs the alignment questions, in private, their answers vary between uncertainty, hesitation and a firm NO. They tend to think that they bring some value to the organization but they wish they could do more and have a greater impact. They do not feel they are using their abilities to the absolute fullest. There is another important question to consider. This question has two variants: For KDMs: How would you describe the quality of your relationship with the DR on whom you depend the most? For DRs: How would you describe the quality of your relationship with your KDM? This question usually takes a little more thought than the other ones. Usually, when I ask DRs these questions they tell me they are experiencing some kind of problem in the relationship with the KDM. It could be a small problem. It could be a big problem. Very often, it is a problem that seems big to the DR, but small or nonexistent to the KDM. When I ask DRs who say they are experiencing challenges with their KDM whether they ve ever tried to address the problems in the relationship, they typically say something like: Sure I ve tried. But nothing happened. What are you going to do? After all, when you ve got a problem like this, you just have to grin and bear it. He/She isn t going to change. Don t be so sure of that. 5

6 How To Recognize An Alignment Problem Chronic workplace stress is a sign of an alignment problem. The kind of stress I m talking about plays out in cycles that intensify over time hurting the KDM, the company s leadership team, and the company as a whole. This stress may express itself in: Chronic feelings of uneasiness about the decisions awaiting you at work, Feeling that someone just plain does not know how to work with you, Problems that spill over into your home life. These are all warning signs of a lack of alignment, and ignoring the warning signs only makes the problem worse. Having managed, owned and now worked with over a hundred small businesses, I can state with certainty that those businesses that do not have alignment between their KDM and their DRs are destined to under perform and are rarely able to survive. Keith Weaver, Smart State L.L.C. The Two Keys To Improving Alignment An alignment issue reflects two sides of the same coin. Neither the KDM nor the DRs can improve alignment on their own. However, if both parties are willing to engage, you can change the relationship for the better. There are two keys to improving alignment. 1. KDM s commitment to the process, which is absolutely essential. 2. DR s willingness and ability to tactfully, assertively engage for constructive change. Whether you are a KDM or a DR, you will achieve your highest level of business and career success when you understand the true importance of this relationship. Once you each become aware of the personal effect you have on each other, truly great things are possible. You can only create alignment in a relationship when you understand how the other person thinks about his or her world. This kind of understanding does not come easily. It is a matter of constant practice, commitment, and continuous refinement of the relationship like the continual work required to sustain a good marriage. The desired highest level of success can only happen when both of you make a conscious effort to change your patterns of interaction in a way that maximizes alignment with each other. Optimal success can only become a daily reality for the company, and for both the KDM and DR, with an ongoing commitment from both parties to improve alignment. 6

7 The Twelve Alignment Factors The Alignment Factor shows you exactly how to build and sustain such a trusting, respectful relationship, step by step. Following the alignment process improves already solid working relationships and transforms even a destructive or dysfunctional working dynamic by creating a trusting environment of mutual respect. This environment supports much greater productivity for both people. The twelve Alignment Factors fall into four alignment areas. Commitment, the first Alignment Factor, begins the process and is an evergreen presence in the ongoing effort to improve alignment. Commitment supports and encompasses all the other of Alignment Factors. The Alignment Factor consists of the following training sessions: Alignment Area: Commitment 1. Commitment on Alignment: There will never be outstanding alignment without a commitment to invest time and effort in it. Alignment Area: Communication 2. Align to PAVE Your Way to Success: Experience the most personal fulfillment and deliver the most bang for the buck to the company. 3. Align on Plans and Priorities: Take advantage of one-on-one meetings between the Key Decision Maker and the Direct Report, so each side knows exactly how time, effort and energy will be focused. 4. Align on Weekly Strategic Leadership Team Meetings: Improve alignment with weekly team meetings. 5. Align on Annual Strategic Team Meetings: Step back and get the big picture. Alignment Area: Culture 6. Align on Working Dynamics: Deliver positive results for the company by supporting a mutually respectful relationship. 7. Align on Company Values and Working Dynamics: Align on the critical company values the Key Decision Maker and the Direct Report should be modeling for the rest of the organization. 8. Align on Company Vision: Identify and understand all the elements of the Key Decision Maker s vision for the company. 7

8 Alignment Area: Collaboration 9. Align on Roles and Responsibilities: Learn how the Direct Report can make life easier for the Key Decision Maker, starting right now. 10. Align on Critical Success Factors: Identify the objectives so critical to the company that its success depends on achieving them. 11. Align on Strategic Direction Initiatives: Identify the company s strategic direction, and ensure that the efforts of every member of the Strategic Leadership Team are consistent with that strategic direction. Alignment Area: Commitment 12. Alignment is Evergreen: Maintain the company s commitment to alignment over time. All twelve Alignment Factors require constant commitment, effort and reinforcement. A Way Of Life Alignment is more than a way of working with someone. It is a way of life. Once you commit to that way of life, you are likely to experience a higher level of business success that is attributable to you personally. Investing in improving alignment typically results in greater financial rewards and rapid career advancement for the DR. This much I can promise from personal experience: these twelve Alignment Factors, when adopted by both the KDM and the DRs in a company, will bring about measurably better business results and the business experience will be considerably more enjoyable for both parties. By Allen E. Fishman Founder and Chairman of The Alternative Board (TAB) Allen s book, The Alignment Factor, can be purchased from Amazon. Many TAB facilitators offer a 12-month training program that helps Key Decision Makers and their Direct Reports achieve alignment and address the common business issues described in this paper. You can learn more by visiting 8