Strategy Aligned Organization

Observing

• Lack of accountability

• Lack of communication between organization units.

• Unable to tap market opportunities quickly

• Strains in growth and profitability

Are your teams aligned to the strategy?

Strategic Issues – How do we

• Uniquely position in the market and

outperform

• Get stability during times of economic

uncertainty

• Drive growth and sustainability

• Enhance organization and individual

productivity

• Establish alignment and accountability

• Make organization agile and innovative

What is organization alignment?

• Aligning vision, mission, values, strategic objectives,

business model, goals, measures, people (structure, roles,

groups, teams), processes (policies, procedures, rules),

technology (applications, tools), customers

• Alignment increases value for all stakeholders

Aligned organization

Products/Services Products & Projects to the customers

HR IT QA

Finance Admin Top Mgt

Throughput model where every part of the organization

maximizes throughput - delivery of value to the customer.

Sales & Mkting

Management systems 1.0: reliability, predictability, discipline, alignment and control

Management systems 2.0: adaptability, innovation, engagement and accountability

Organization alignment with Strategy Map and Balanced Scorecard

Attitude for Alignment

• Instead of cutting stones, building a cathedral/temple

• Instead of cutting logs, building ships

• Everybody contributes to the organization building

• Process level ownership; accountability cascaded.

• Management team is the force leading from the front in

the market place (fighting for the market share and new

business). Everybody supports the strategy. Responds to

change in strategy quickly and efficiently (agility).

Understanding the Power of Alignment thru Metaphors

Birds in V formation Superconducting Magnet

Fishing net

Symphony Orchestra

Laser Beam Hanging Bridge Jigsaw Puzzle

Boat race

Birds flying in V formation

The V formation greatly boosts the efficiency

and range of flying birds, particularly over

long migratory routes. The upward airflow

created by the bird in front, assists the bird

following it. The V formation helps in

increasing the range by 71%. The birds flying

at the tips and at the front are rotated in a

timely cyclical fashion to spread flight

fatigue equally among the flock members.

Ref Wiki.

Symphony Orchestra

Hundreds or even thousands of artists play to

the same tune and rhythm according to the

gestures from the music director, generating

spectacular music in a symphony orchestra.

Another example is Olympics opening/closing

ceremony where participants perform in

unison. What a magnificence when people

perform in alignment!

Boat Race

A popular event in Kerala is ‘Snake

Boat Race’. It is amazing to watch the

rhythm, the coordinated hand

movements of about hundred

oarsmen and the synchronized

chanting of singers. Great excitement

is generated when people align to a

common goal (video of a boat race).

More examples at: Power of Alignment

There is beauty, strength, power, harmony, rhythm, simplicity, efficiency, agility and magnificence in alignment.

Are your teams/organization aligned?

Observing these symptoms in your organization?

• Frequent recurring issues, escalations, fire-fighting, rework and delays

• Poor visibility for Sr. Mgmt; difficulty/delay in getting the required info; poor data

quality. Spending time on reconciliation of reports.

• Absence of effective processes for Risk management, Root Cause analysis, Metrics

Collection and Reporting, Organizational Learning.

• Important goals are not documented, no measures of success, poor tracking of

progress against goals & plans. Team works on conflicting purposes.

• Ineffective utilization of resources and lack of skilled people; some processes or

organizational activities may not have any person responsible.

• Frequent customer escalations; unable to retain customers; no time for

innovation.

• Strategic priorities take a back seat (because operational issues take priority)

Cause

The primary cause could

be weak organizational

processes which are not

aligned.

Process-oriented organization

• Teams think in terms of processes to achieve goals, not just tasks.

• Every manager manages one or more processes with complete

ownership.

• Is clear about his roles, responsibilities, accountabilities, measures

of success and skills required

• Has control and visibility into the entire processes he owns

• Accountabilities and goals are cascaded within the organization

• Teams are not confined by the role descriptions

• Teams are rewarded primarily for process outcomes (results).

Aligned Organization • In an aligned organization, processes are streamlined , resistance is

low and things get done fast. Everybody rows in the same direction.

You experience exhilaration. Your organization becomes a magnet

of prestigious projects, profitable clients and top talents.

With organization alignment,

you can catch big fishes –

prestigious projects and

profitable clients.

How to get organizational alignment?

• Get your organization vision, goals, strategy, processes,

resources aligned. Use tools such as Strategy Map and

Balanced Scorecard.

• Cascade accountability/metrics.

• Resolve conflicts

• Ensure strategies are properly clarified, communicated,

aligned and measured at all levels of the organization.

• Fine-tune status reporting with suitable metrics or develop

business dashboards for all your processes.

Get external help, if required.

Make your organization

strategy-aligned

with

Holistic, modularized, lean

performance improvement solutions @

CXOdashboards.com