By Max Leone
9 Signs That Your Company Is Out Of Alignment - Is Yours?
Alignment is the key to a successful organization. When a company is out of alignment, they will start to experience symptoms that can be very harmful to their success.
Company alignment is the state in which all aspects of an organization are working together towards a common goal. It can be achieved by ensuring that every individual in the company has an understanding of what needs to happen for the company to operate at its full potential.
Misalignment occurs when there are gaps between what individuals and departments think they believe and what they actually do on a day-to-day basis. If mismatched, this can lead to frustration, low morale, and lower productivity among employees.
9 Signs Of Misalignment
There are many warning signs but these 9 seem to reoccur most frequently:
- The company is not making any progress and nothing is changing.
- Employees are not happy.
- There are a lot of people leaving the company.
- Employee morale is low.
- The company does not have a clear vision of where it wants to go in the future.
- There is a lack of communication between teams and departments in the company.
- Employees don’t know what their goals are or what they need to do to reach those goals.
- Employees don’t feel they have enough support from management when they need it, or when they make mistakes on the job.
- Employees don’t feel they can be themselves at work, or that their ideas matter as much as others.
The WHAT And HOW
In the 4 Disciplines of Execution study and process, that include Focus, Leverage, Engagement & Accountability, it states that:
“Only 15% of the workforce knows the goal and only ½ of them care.
What can you do different (in your business) to engage the other 85%”
The answer, that I believe is most effective, is to embrace business alignment and interlock this methodology with your company purpose and strategy!
To reiterate, company alignment is the state in which all aspects of an organization are working together towards a common goal.
The fundamental questions when laying out your business alignment plan is to first address two elements; your company purpose; and your company strategy.
The company Purpose is What the business is trying to achieve.
The company Strategy is How the business will achieve it.
Purpose
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. This may be compared to your business purpose, its enduring and the direction which you choose the company should point. Your company purpose is a driving force; it is what you stand for and a strong affirmation of the reason you are in business.
The point of defining your business purposes is not just so you have a clear vision for your organization but so you also live up to those goals. When done correctly, it will create alignment with every person in your company making them more efficient and productive at their job.
Strategy
Strategy is your organizations master plan, long term goal perspective and road map. It is your organization's definition of the products and services that you will offer in defined market sector(s). It also helps how you distinguish your company from your competitors and how you position your company for the best competitive advantage to win.
Strategy is a process that needs to be consistently evaluated and scrutinized to validate the achievement of organizational and individual goals. It involves deep thinking about the company’s purpose, its strengths, its opportunities and threats, and the best way to be prepared to address all of them.
Conclusion
If your company is experiencing any of the 9 signs of misalignment indicated above, then you should consider going back to the basics of reevaluating your current Purpose and Strategy and how it conforms to your present operation.
Your business Purpose and Strategy are the bedrocks that will help the successful direction of your organization. With the tie-in to a strong business alignment mindset and formal structure, you will be in a great position to see real progress and performance and eliminate many of the 9 signs we reviewed.
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