Episode #447: How To Get Performance Alignment

Organisations are made up of many internal moving parts, so coordination becomes an important aspect of success in business. Divisional rivalries, egos, personal competition, “not invented here”, the list goes on and on concerning factors which make it difficult to operate as one smooth functioning machine. There are also various external challenges we have to deal with like regulation changes, mergers and acquisitions among our competitors, natural disasters, market movements, etc. As the leader we have to make sure we have solid alignment amongst the team members within what the company wants to achieve. There are eight elements to make sure we have alignment between the individuals and the organisation.

1. Vision and Mission

Our Vision is our window to a brighter future and our goals for where we want to be. Usually there are two visions. We have the overall company vision at the macro level and then we have our unit vision, which is a subset of the broader enterprise vision. This is important because the closer we can get the team to accomplishing a vision comprising their contribution to the results needed the better. It has to be specific around the execution of the company vision, so that the unit team members can juxtapose their part in the big scheme of things. Our Mission brings clarity around our purpose and defines what we do and what we don’t do. This clarity is key, because we can do many things, but what we do has to be aligned with the enterprise outcomes we need.

2. Values

Values are the glue that holds the culture of the organisation together. Shared values are a prerequisite for gaining team engagement and commitment. The personal value spectrum is extremely varied though, so this is not as easy as it sounds. It must be done though or we won’t have everyone on board with how we are going to achieve the results.

3. Position Goal

Where do we want to be ranked in our industry, our sector, within our organisation? Do we want to dominate market share? Are we concentering on profitability? Are we seeking continuous, rapid growth? This type of competitive aspect can be highly motivational for teams in big organisations. Often, we feel we are working in isolation and what we do doesn’t make that much difference. If you are in the top ten of revenues globally, the team see that as recognition of their hard efforts and makes the process more motivational.

4. Key Result Areas

KRAs are the areas where it is critical for you to achieve predetermined, desired results. These key result areas can cover a broad range of possibilities, but there will be particular areas of higher priority than others. Knowing what these are, constantly measuring them and broadcasting the results keeps everyone focused.

5. Standards

Performance standards are tangible, measurable conditions which must exist when the job is done well. We can use SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Specific. Once performance standards are nominated then there is a level of objectivity around what we are doing. There can be a huge difference across how well activities are performed. Customer service feedback, client satisfaction surveys, re-order rates, etc., can all be excellent ways of judging how well the business is performing. When we have no clear standards of performance it is difficult to know how we should be doing our work. By defining the standards of performance, we bring structure to the work and to the organization. Consistency is only possible when the team know what they need to do and at what standard they need to do it.

6. Activities

Having defined the key result areas to be achieved, we need to make clear what are the required activities, which will produce the desired outcome. Some activities are more important than others, so we have to make sure the work we are doing is directly related to the results we are seeking. Busy work can be meaningless and often, like barnacles on a ship‘s hull, we pick up superfluous activities which detract from hitting the targets.

7. Skills

We need a skill audit of our team to investigate if we have the capacity to achieve the goals. What training and coaching is required to improve the skills of the existing team. If we don’t have what we need, then we should try to bring in additional people or change the personnel in the team. In Japan, the latter option is possible but can be difficult and expensive.

8. Results

Did we achieve what we set out to achieve and what was the quality of the results we produced. What did we learn in the process? Even failure can be seen as a learning experience, better preparing us for the future.

The leader has many things to take care of. Getting the team aligned with the outcomes required and well coordinated with the rest of the organisation are important tasks. Often, the day to day struggle with the minutiae can force our eye off the main game. This type of check list is useful to keep us on track throughout the year, especially when we are besieged with emergencies, meltdowns and serious trouble.