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 Aligning Corporate Teams

Corporate teams are sometimes labeled as "silos," which is a word that's often defined as being insulated from the outside world. But this can make it difficult for teams to get along — and in some cases, it can even lead to many of them feeling unhappy at work. That's why we've put together this blog post about how you can help align your corporate teams, by ensuring they're working towards a shared goal and not isolated individually with their own ideas on what should happen next.

Why is alignment important?

Alignment helps teams achieve common goals. It also helps them work better together and improve their performance, communication, problem-solving, and time management skills. So whenever you have a team of people who need to work together for a purpose, aligning them will enable them to be more productive.

It can also help companies reduce their costs by eliminating unnecessary resources that don't add value, or by improving their efficiency through leveraging assets that are already in place (such as people).

Aligning a team is more than simply getting it to work together and support each other. It's making sure there's also a shared understanding of what everyone is trying to achieve. It means identifying what everyone will do, how they'll do it, and when they'll do it.

The benefits of alignment…

Establishing an environment where teams are aligned helps them stop wasting time or resources on projects that don't matter or goals that no longer exist. This allows them to focus on the activities they should be doing, so they can deliver the results their organization needs without wasting time on things that aren't important.

It also helps them fix issues faster. In fact, a recent study showed that when teams are misaligned, it can cause them to waste an average of 25 hours every month on misguided activities (such as time spent on tasks that don't produce the results they're supposed to).

This is why it's important for you to help your teams be aligned from the beginning — so they can focus on moving your organization forward and not on wasted efforts.

How to align corporate teams…

There are several steps you can take to ensure your corporate team has the right level of alignment:

Clarify shared goals . You should start by clarifying what everyone is trying to achieve. This means asking for feedback and giving employees a chance to provide their input. This will help you come up with a list of goals that everyone supports and believes in.

. You should start by clarifying what everyone is trying to achieve. This means asking for feedback and giving employees a chance to provide their input. This will help you come up with a list of goals that everyone supports and believes in. Communicate those goals . It's not enough to just create those goals — you have to make sure your team knows about them as well, so each person understands the overall direction of your organization. You can do this by providing regular updates and reviews, making sure everyone understands the priorities and how they fit into your larger team strategy, and explaining any changes if necessary (when goals switch or get updated).

. It's not enough to just create those goals — you have to make sure your team knows about them as well, so each person understands the overall direction of your organization. You can do this by providing regular updates and reviews, making sure everyone understands the priorities and how they fit into your larger team strategy, and explaining any changes if necessary (when goals switch or get updated). Hold people accountable . This is also important because it will ensure that people are held accountable for achieving the right results instead of doing things that don't move the needle. And you can do this by creating a system where everyone has their own objectives and responsibilities, check-in points, checkpoints, and metrics that can be used to measure alignment.

. This is also important because it will ensure that people are held accountable for achieving the right results instead of doing things that don't move the needle. And you can do this by creating a system where everyone has their own objectives and responsibilities, check-in points, checkpoints, and metrics that can be used to measure alignment. Share results of alignment efforts . You'll also have to document any alignment efforts and share those learning points with your team. This will help them stay in tune with what your corporate goals are and how they're contributing to them.

. You'll also have to document any alignment efforts and share those learning points with your team. This will help them stay in tune with what your corporate goals are and how they're contributing to them. Celebrate alignment: Alignment is a long-term process, so you'll have to make sure people understand that there will be times when they have to work individually or not as a team. This will happen from time to time, especially if uncertainty and change are inevitable. But be honest about the challenges you have and the difference it can make to achieve common goals in the face of change.

You can also…

Although alignment is an important process for running your company successfully, it isn't a one-size-fits-all solution — so you don't just apply it across all teams all of the time.

You have to remember that different teams need different approaches, and you should try to tailor your approach based on their specific needs. For example, teams that are doing the same thing need similar goals. And groups with the same kind of skills (and similar training levels) typically want more guidance and support from you.

The same is true for groups that are more independent or self-directed in nature. They'll want more freedom when it comes to making decisions about how they'll achieve their goals.

But no matter what your organization needs, alignment is important for everyone — from management to employees. So don't forget about this step as you build your corporate teams or address issues later on down the road.

And to help you get started, we've created this checklist that you can use to measure the alignment of your corporate teams. You can download it below or find a copy here:

How to Establish Corporate Alignment Video Series

This video series will guide you through the steps necessary to establish alignment across your entire organization. It's meant as a guide, so take what applies and tweak it for your own company. And if any of these steps apply specifically to your team or situation, simply ignore that step and focus on what's most important for you.

Here are all the videos in the series:

1. How to Establish Corporate Alignment: Management & Goals

2. How to Establish Corporate Alignment: Engagement & Training

3. How to Establish Corporate Alignment: Culture, Feedback, & Diversity

4. How to Establish Corporate Alignment: Motivation & Engagement

5. How to Establish Corporate Alignment: Revenge of The Nerds Episode

6. How to Establish Corporate Alignment: Conclusion

If you're looking for more help with corporate alignment take a look at our Self-Assessment Toolkit below — it will walk you through the same steps we've outlined in this video series and give you an opportunity to identify your organization's alignment strengths and weaknesses.

Conclusion

Identifying alignment is important when it comes to establishing your organization's goals and strategies. But it's also just as important for you personally, because you don't want misaligned teams running your company (which means misaligned goals) — and those can have a big impact on your career.

So make sure you build alignment into your company's culture from the start so that everyone knows what their purpose is and how everyone fits in to achieving those goals. And then stay on top of it to ensure it keeps changing and improving over time.