5 Steps to Group Alignment
Alignment has to do with understanding and agreement. It is about building a shared sense of reality. It involves getting everyone on the same page and working in the same direction. Groups can develop alignment across a wide variety of important factors, such as identity, purpose, practices, processes, direction, and strategy – or who we are, why we exist, what we do, how we do what we do, where we are headed, and how we plan to get there. From an organizational perspective, we could call these factors organizational arrangements. Developing alignment on organizational arrangements can produce more effective teams, functions, and organizations. For instance, regarding strategy, research shows that when organizations share their goals, teams are better able to focus their work on activities that drive organizational performance [1].
It makes sense that alignment leads to positive outcomes; when people understand and agree on important organizational arrangements, folks can take committed action. So, how do we develop alignment? – by iteratively developing understanding and nurturing agreement. Understanding and agreement are continuous processes, they must be negotiated in an ongoing fashion as circumstances change. Thus, the key to alignment is to develop and maintain the tools that enable folks to continuously understand and agree on organizational arrangements. That is, we must build our “group alignment toolset.” Here are five steps you can take to work toward getting aligned with your people.
Determine What Needs Attention
While many of the organizational arrangements discussed above play an important role in effective work, some items will inevitably need more attention than others. Determine areas of focus by checking in with members of the group with whom you are seeking to develop alignment (i.e., team, unit, or whole organization). These folks know what is going on, and learning from their experience will offer insights about what is top of mind and what is particularly challenging, or what is going well. Insights can come from interviews, focus groups, or survey data. What you are looking for here is your first sign of agreement in the alignment process, that is, what people agree on that is challenging or going well for the group. In addition to what you learn, you may have particular things you know you want to work on, be sure to check in to learn what members think of these topics. What you learn in this process will allow you to focus on the challenges and opportunities that may be inhibiting alignment.
Bring Folks Together
Work today is highly distributed. Folks might be in different parts of a building, parts of the country, or parts of the world. We work remotely, hybrid, asynchronously, and in-person, and will likely work in new ways in the future. Thus, getting folks together, while tough, is important for making progress toward alignment. Providing the space to discuss, explore, challenge, and exchange ideas ensures that important topics get the time and attention they deserve if critical decisions are going to be made and committed action is going to be taken. You can bring people together online or in person, but the key is to develop a thoughtful approach to holding discussions and capturing insights.
Discuss and Decide
While we have achieved one level of agreement (e.g., the challenges and opportunities of the group), we must now develop understanding and agreement on the way forward. This starts with discussions on the organizational arrangements of focus and leads to decision-making on actions to be taken. For instance, say folks are unclear on work practices and believe there is a need to make updates within your organization. The only way to make updates is for folks to have a sense of where things stand and how they might make changes. Asking questions like “How have we worked in the past?” “How do we work now?” and “What shall we update about our ways of working?” can serve to get people thinking critically about whether the past and present match future ambitions. Here is where new learning and insights can develop, and folks can begin to discuss alternatives to the present practices or learn how to leverage best practices currently in use.
Check Your Assumptions
Our understanding or perception of a given topic may be different from that of our colleagues. The only way we learn how far apart we are is by questioning what we think we know about the other person’s understanding. You might be surprised to learn that a colleague does not know the meaning of an acronym you’ve been using for a whole meeting or that a decision to update database definitions has not yet been communicated to the team you are presenting to. However, when you operate under assumptions, people get left out of the loop, and misalignment can occur. The only thing it is safe to assume is that folks may not know what you are talking about. Checking assumptions is a super hack for developing alignment. When holding discussions with members, it is often facilitative to start from the beginning and work toward a more advanced understanding of any particular topic.
Hire an Expert Consultant
Getting an expert to aid in the alignment process can provide huge value. In many circumstances, in the absence of a consultant, a team, unit, or organizational leader might take up the role of facilitator. This makes sense as they are formally in charge and have a wider view of the organization. However, holding the dual role of leader and consultant can force the leader into an either/or position; either they maintain their leader role, which allows them to think critically about the topics at hand but makes it hard to consult and take that higher-up view to tune into the dynamics and broader insights shared by the group, or they take a consultant role, which allows them to capture the essence of what is being shared and develop key insights but makes it harder to keep their leader hat on and listen from their vantage of supporter and enabler of productivity. Breaking these into two roles gives leaders the freedom to show up and contribute as a member of the organization and allows the consultant to develop an understanding of the group, drive inquiry, unlock curiosity, surface assumptions, and guide the group toward updated ways of working.
Making progress toward alignment in your team, unit, or organization is a continuous process. Taking the steps above and repeating them once a quarter or twice a year can aid in your pursuit. Launching these activities can provide people with a more predictable, coherent, and engaging experience at work.
References
Harris, C. L., & Beyerlein, M. M. (2003). Team-Based Organization: Creating an Environment for Team Success. In M. A. West, D. Tjosvold, & K. G. Smith (Eds.), International handbook of teamwork and cooperative working (referenced pages: 193–194). New York: Wiley.