Team Alignment

Great work teams are the foundation of organizational success. The speed and magnitude of change in the modern business world are enormous, and the best way to succeed in such an environment is to go horizontal, designing teams in a de-centralized way to ensure quality service and fast-paced time-to-market. How is this achieved? Well, while flat teams may seem like a counter-intuitive concept, they can lead to exceptional results. And this is where we can help – by showing your team how to create synergy using facilitated interactions to build alignment.

When the members of a team work together synergistically, they are able to move far beyond what a normal team in a similar situation can achieve. How to find synergy in the workplace? There are three main sources: a deeper mutual understanding, wiser decisions, and greater accountability. The deeper understanding comes when everyone starts to speak up candidly and the team can see the situation from different points of view. The wiser decisions result from creativity combined with carefully-sourced analytics, and the greater accountability comes from the consensus - where every team member consents to a final decision and action plan.

The second component is alignment–the road to synergy. How can we transform the way people work with each other? A good team will have some “glue” holding its members together. Whereas in the traditional hierarchical organization, the team leader relies on 1:1 interaction, in a horizontal organization, there is a lot of group communication. For this communication to be successful, the team must be aligned in three main areas: business, personal and procedural. To reach complete team alignment, we use an approach specific to each area. For example, if a team lacks business alignment, we would recommend members think about a common goal. If a team has issues with personal alignment, we would suggest having a feedback session. Regarding procedural topics, we might offer to develop a decision-making protocol.

Thirdly, choosing the right tool for interacting at the team alignment session is crucial. We use the facilitation technique, which guides team members towards committing to alignment themselves, yielding a deeper commitment and longer-lasting results. In addition, using facilitation, we navigate participants through decision-making processes in a way that leads to synergy. What participants learn in the alignment session can then be employed in a real work setting without the external consultant. They can take what they learn from the role model of team interaction and use it for future success.

We see a high-performance team as a true competitive advantage that is hard to steal or copy, and we can help you get there. So, let’s talk.