The success of any organization generally depends on two key factors; alignment with your strategy, the commitment and enthusiasm of your employees for the work you help to achieve it. Unfortunately, for most companies, the two are disconnected. Although they have more ways to communicate and coordinate work than ever before, many organizations find it difficult to communicate how the work of individuals and teams is moving toward overall business goals, which, in turn, is difficult to communicate. for many organizations. In many ways, it limits the organization's ability to succeed. With lockdown measures forcing teams around the world to rapidly adopt distributed styles of remote work, the importance of strategic alignment and employee engagement has never been more critical to the continued success of a business. business. Our recent study of workplace trends among more than 6,000 knowledge workers found that only 26% of employees have a very clear understanding of how their individual work relates to company goals, and only 16% say your business is very good at setting and communicating goals. This misalignment is often a symptom of inconsistent and fixed goal-setting methods for communicating goals and a general disengagement and disregard for daily work. As a result, employees feel confused about priorities and where to focus their efforts, lack motivation, and find it difficult to work effectively with their team. So how do you bridge the gap between organizational strategy and employee engagement?
Clear communication is the key to team alignment.
No matter what industry you are in or where in the world you are, clarifying the specific goals of the company and the team can help people understand what work they should be doing and when. Without it, the team can become confused about their individual tasks, leading to a lack of alignment and motivation. Communicating these priorities on a regular basis, not just by putting them in a Powerpoint presentation or Excel spreadsheet, can also help people prioritize their intentions for each work day and empower them to better understand their role in moving the work forward. . organization's mission. Make sure your team has the clarity they need to stay focused on the tasks that matter. The same survey showed that 82% of employees who use a collaboration software platform say their company is effective at setting and communicating company-wide goals. Additionally, 84% of these employees have a clear understanding of the relationship between their individual work and their company-wide goals. Organizations around the world have realized the benefits of remote and distributed work practices, despite some bumps along the way, and many have embraced new tools, technologies, and processes to stay connected and coordinate work. The next step will be to assess what lessons they have learned from this experience, how they can continue to be effective, and ensure their alignment as they enter the next phase of the work. Clearly defined and repeatable processes and habits are essential to setting goals, tracking progress, and achieving results effectively. More than ever, it's imperative to select tools that allow you to set your goals and track your team's work in one place, making it easy to track progress and secure communication, collaboration, and coordination on what matters most. . Further.Engaging teams with a sense of purpose
When people are passionate about their work and understand purpose, they work smarter and deliver more. In fact, research shows that when teams clearly know how they are contributing to company goals, their commitment to work doubles. Providing greater transparency into how individual work feeds into the missions of the larger company allows team members to take responsibility for the work they do. With clear company-wide goals, every team member on every team can see how work contributes to high-level goals, why certain jobs are prioritized, and ultimately how it's progressing. The company towards its vision. Team leaders can also more easily recognize the work of individual contributors and help them achieve their goals more often by correcting work before it gets off track. This creates an exhilarating sense of purpose for teams, motivating them to do their best so they can achieve bigger goals.Real-time visibility can increase collaboration and ensure everyone stays on track
Closing the gap between day-to-day tasks and organizational impact requires the right processes. Work management tools have offerings like goal tracking systems that bridge the gap between company strategy and work execution. Understanding whether your organization is staying on course or needs to pivot requires having a holistic picture or single source of truth that enables you to define, track, and manage business objectives and OKRs directly in support work. Goals are intended to provide this level of clarity and transparency, helping individuals and teams to ensure they are focused on doing the most important work of the business, no matter where they are. Whether your team is split, back in the office, or divided among themselves, bridging the gap between organizational strategy and employee engagement will ensure nothing stops you from succeeding.- Paige Costello, Head of Product Management, Asana.