If your whole team is rowing in the same direction, your company will stand out from the crowd. Unfortunately, most management teams aren't united in this way. This can be an issue when you want to introduce a new strategy.
To align your team with strategic changes and innovations, bear in mind these three considerations that I've always found invaluable:
1. First invest in individuals, then concentrate on team cohesion
Humans are reluctant to change. Don't expect to transform people in one simple step. This may seem like a lot of effort, but it's far less involved than trying to persuade people after you've already implemented your new plan. Invest considerable time in advance to get everybody on board, then pull it all together at the table.
2. Be aware of different levels of experience
Senior leaders, for the most part, will see the value of alignment. Even if they are strongly opposed to your approach, they'll present a united front. For executives who are less experienced, you'll have to devote more time to learning about their motivations, expressing your own and persuading them to join you.
3. Interact, engage, communicate
As CEOs, we have a tendency to under-communicate, even though we feel we are always over-communicating. You need to constantly interact and engage with your executives, and be transparent about your strategy.
Assess those areas of your organisational structure that may be underperforming and prioritise areas for development to take to senior executives. You can do this by:
Undertaking a thorough study of the present design using reliable benchmarking data.
Using the conclusions as the basis for an improvement plan.
Identifying which areas to focus on first after a strategy for development has been laid out
Building a trial project to evaluate the concept and discover how well it may function before implementing more comprehensive changes.
Modern business constraints demand that businesses adopt organisational structures that enable them to adjust swiftly to changes in the marketplace, launch new services and uncover previously undiscovered revenue.
TAKEAWAY: If all members of your executive team aren't aligned with your strategic plan, you'll never move ahead of the competition. Take time to invest in individuals, make the effort to bring less-experienced executives on board and constantly interact, engage and communicate to ensure that your leadership team become strong advocates of your strategy.
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