Team alignment is the key ingredient for success in any company. If your team clearly understands which direction they are supposed to take, reaching a goal becomes easier, and perhaps, in some cases, even faster.
Team alignment comes down to “effective communication”.
This has become a buzzword in the business sphere. You hear it all the time but it remains quite challenging to implement. Yet, it is a cornerstone for business success.
In this article, we will explore how weekly updates can foster effective communication and consequently be a powerful tool to enhance team alignment.
So, get comfortable and prepare yourself a good cup of coffee and let’s dive into weekly alignment.
The problem with sporadic communication to create alignment
Non-effective communication can take many forms. One of them being leaders communicating with their teams sporadically and not properly prepared.
This leads to new ideas emerging "out of nowhere" simply because the team has not been involved in the continuous thought process.
If your goal is to align your team, this form of communication becomes problematic, mainly because it does not create a sense of predictability or clarity for your team. If they do not know what to expect and when to expect it, they will be dealing with a higher level of ambiguity and misdirection.
The pitfalls of sharing ideas without warning
When ideas emerge without warning, they are typically perceived as a surprise, a “I wasn’t expecting this” kind of feeling.
The main drawback is that sharing ideas without warning can lead to a sense of confusion among team members or a feeling of being excluded from the decision-making process. In turn, this leads to beliefs like “my opinion is not important in this company” or “they do not value me enough”.
In these situations, you can expect distrust to arise and, ultimately, negative impacts on team performance and morale.
Involve your team in your continuous thought process
Involving the team in the continuous thought process is essential for building a strong organizational culture and fostering transparency.
Transparency is the foundation of trust within any team. By openly sharing the ongoing thought process, you can eliminate the sense of secrecy and cultivate an environment where each member feels valued and an integral part of the team.
How to improve team alignment
Effective communication is well-prepared and thought-through. When your aim is team alignment, you ought to ensure your communication is clear and concise. The more ambiguity you eliminate, the better your team will know how to navigate and achieve your goal.
Unlike verbal communication, written updates force you to refine your logic and clear up your thoughts. They also ensure you read the text back and perceive your message as if you were the listener, giving you a chance for further adjustments.
Also, weekly written updates are a powerful tool to achieve the level of transparency mentioned above. By constantly documenting and sharing your thoughts, you give team members a clear view of the direction you are taking and the reasons behind your decisions.
In each update, it reiterates the company's mission. Not only does this serve as a constant reminder of your core goals, but it also sets the tone for the rest of the update, providing a contextual framework for more detailed discussions.
Choose the right pace
Besides, knowing how to communicate to generate alignment effectively, you, as the leader, must also identify a cadence to make those updates predictable.
Weekly updates are the pace you may be looking for. They allow you to frequently realign your team and ensure the progression of goals is happening as expected.
The winning structure for weekly alignment
An effective process for your weekly written updates is crucial to keeping the team aligned and engaged. Here is how you can easily structure your updates:
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Team/Company Mission: Constantly reiterate the mission to keep it present in everyone's minds.
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KPIs (Key Performance Indicators): Analyze objective data to assess performance.
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Achievements: Highlight successes and positive aspects of the week.
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Challenges: Acknowledge areas that can be improved and propose solutions.
There are multiple software solutions you can use to write the updates and share them with your team.
Workjoy was specifically designed to make your job as a leader simpler. Hence, we built an all-in-one tool, meaning you can easily and directly use the platform to write your updates and share them with your team through our channel feature.
These are just a few of Workjoy’s range of functionalities specially designed for leaders like you.
Fostering team alignment through team engagement
Including the team in your reflections on a weekly basis is not only a strategy for sharing information but also a powerful tool for fostering alignment and connection.
Connection through understanding
By understanding where your initiatives originate, the team can establish a deeper connection with the organization's goals and values. Transparency in the decision-making process eliminates uncertainty and allows each member to see how their individual contributions fit into the bigger picture.
Visualizing the purpose behind decisions
Participating weekly in your reflections provides your team with a transparent window into the "why" behind each decision. Seeing the purpose behind actions not only fosters understanding but also cultivates a shared sense of purpose. Team members are not just performing tasks; they are contributing to a broader vision.
Addressing challenges: Planning and collaboration
Presenting a plan to address persistent challenges is an integral part of this process. By openly acknowledging and addressing obstacles, you demonstrate not only leadership capability but also confidence in the team's ability to overcome any difficulty. This proactive approach strengthens collaboration by focusing on problems and solutions.
Strengthening trust and collaboration
Trust and collaboration are two fundamental pillars of a successful team. By including the team in your reflections, you are building a solid bridge between leadership and members, strengthening mutual trust. Moreover, by demonstrating an active willingness to address challenges, you are fostering a collaborative spirit where each member feels part of the solution.
Conclusion
Team alignment is possible through effective communication. And, it is essential for the success of any team or organization. Utilizing weekly written updates provides a structured and reflective framework that drives team alignment, transparency, and engagement. By implementing these strategies, leaders can overcome the challenge of sporadic communication and build strong teams ready to face any challenge.