What Is Strategic Alignment
Simply stated, strategic alignment occurs when all business teams understand the organizational goals, what role their team plays in achieving those goals, and how their team coordinates and collaborates with the other business units to achieve those goals. In other words, everyone is on the same page, working together toward the same outcome. Each component and system must work together synergistically. In the words, in strategic alignment.
Why Is It Important?
We’ve likely all worked for an organization that was critically misaligned. For example, the leadership is confused or contrary, the goals are not clearly defined, or power struggles exist between or within teams. This leads to disgruntled employees and poor personal and company performance, both contributing to higher costs and smaller profits.
Conversely, a strategically aligned organization has teams that work together for success that everyone can celebrate. This is an organization that exemplifies the expression “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
How Do You Achieve Strategic Alignment?
Leadership
Strong leadership is the lynch pin of any organization. Leaders that understand the role they have in guiding, mentoring, and directing their teams are a critical component of business success. They need to effectively communicate both up and down the organization. This is why more and more businesses are turning to leadership development training for managers and leaders at all levels.
The leadership must be aligned. Chief Executive describes it like this:
“…an aligned leadership team debates well, proactively supports each other, is laser focused on what is most important, and is committed to learning and improving. Perhaps most importantly, an aligned leadership team has confidence in its ability to get back in sync after inevitable periods of dysfunction.”
Clear Communication of Mission, Vision and Goals
The organization’s executives must have a full and comprehensive understanding of the mission, vision and goals. Absent this, it is impossible for them to communicate them in any way, let alone clearly, to the rest of the organization.
Following that, these must be shared in an unambiguous way with the rest of the organization. At each level, leaders must be able to communicate to their teams what team’s role is in achieving these, and how each individual is an integral part of the mission.
The Full Picture
There are many components to strategic alignment.
- Operational alignment
- IT alignment
- Sales and marketing alignment
- Cultural alignment
- Technology alignment, and
- Financial alignment
Organizational alignment needs to function both horizontally and vertically. The challenges to achieving this often seem monumental, but they are surmountable!
This process should begin with a value statement that leads to a mission statement and a vision statement. The key to these is a clear and shared understanding of the “why.” It’s often difficult for members of the organization to guide this process. They’re too close to the situation. Not only is it nearly impossible for the facilitator to be completely objective, they rarely have the training required to be effective and efficient. This process needs an objective professional to be completely successful.
Fortunately, in the Madison, Wisconsin area, there is such a professional: Chisel ActionCOACH. You may think your business is too small for this type of service. On the contrary, businesses of every size benefit – especially if they have the desire to get bigger and more profitable!
