Team alignment is one of the most critical tasks for any manager. It consists of more than making concrete decisions when it comes to distributing tasks, supervising them, or giving a warning during performance review interviews. Beyond that, it implies an ability to get the team to organize itself effectively, with an attitude of collectivity and not individualism that leads it to walk well integrated during the execution of the projects assigned to it.
Team alignment: how does it work?
When we think of aligning employees, we think of that alignment as consistently focusing on achieving common goals.
A good inspiration for this can be good coaches of sports teams, for example, those in charge of a national team that will participate in a large-scale championship.
These “managers” must choose the best players, build a balanced structure, detect the abilities and needs of each one to target their interventions on them, transmit a set of guidelines in which the value always places the team above individual stardom, and convince them, based on their confidence in them, that they too must have confidence in their ability to succeed together, that is, as long as they remain well connected.
There is also something choreographic about team alignment: the manager must have the ability to get the people in their charge to dance in sync, pushing and supporting each other without stepping on each other’s toes.
1. The importance of purpose
Team alignment requires that the people who make up the team have a clear and meaningful purpose that is in line with their personal and professional values. This will increase their involvement, interest, and motivation in the task.
2. Well-established objectives
Whenever a person and, of course, also a work team intends to be well aligned, it must work according to properly defined objectives so that everyone can take responsibility more effectively when it comes to carrying out the assigned tasks.
3. The power of good communication
Team alignment is only possible with a good communication policy. Therefore, the manager – and all team members – must strive to build effective communication processes that favor productivity and a good working environment and do not hinder work.
United but, above all, cohesive
Aligning employees involves a specific vision of teamwork that prioritizes the collective over the individual. There are different ways of interpreting this alignment, although, from our point of view, team alignment implies generating cohesion rather than unity within the team.
Clearly, as co-workers, we must act together, but we must also bear in mind that we are diverse in many aspects and will not always agree on everything. The approach to an idea, the motivation behind a proposal, or the emotional and technical readiness to cooperate can be natural sources of disunity.
As employees, we are human beings and, therefore, different. However, we can – and must – work together cohesively, even if this does not always mean that we work in a completely “uniform” way.
Fostering bonds and mutual understanding
To be aligned, we must know each other, both professionally and non-professionally: and have a sufficient degree of agreement on common corporate interests and affective complicity.
It is good that, where possible, team members share ideas, perspectives, and interpretations of what they have to do and what they want to achieve. Team alignment, therefore, helps to ensure a coherent understanding of the work among team members. This allows them to feel closer to each other and to communicate more effectively so that everyone can quickly access information about what they need to do when to get it done, and with whom to coordinate. This increases efficiency in execution and improves the work climate within the team.
Focusing on emotional well-being in organizations
At ifeel, we believe unity is strength, and a strong alignment is a handy tool for a team to succeed in what it sets out to do. For them, team managers must have the same skills, or very similar, to those of a national sports coach or a choreographer, for example.
To help them achieve this and establish good communication habits within the organization’s processes, our team of psychologists, experts in well-being at work, has created an emotional well-being service for companies that supports the entire team of a company, including those responsible for Human Resources.
These managers must ensure that the company’s final results are close to the objectives set. This is why it is essential to support them in guiding the relationship between the company and the employee and to ensure that it is as beneficial as possible for both.
That’s why, through our service, you can receive personalized, data-driven advice on improving your teams’ psychological well-being. Are you part of your organization’s Human Resources department? Try our program now and find out how it could help you.
In addition, this program offers all employees a complete mental health care service that they can access in different ways depending on their needs. Those who wish can access an online therapy service with one of our psychologists, specialized in cases like theirs, or interact with one of our professionals to receive emotional support in a more specific circumstance that concerns them.
Of course, in our Resources section, you can find different materials, such as podcasts, HR Guides on various topics (e.g., employee experience or how to design a good HR strategy), or interviews with important HR positions. In addition, we have a Psychosocial Risk Factors Template, which you can use to comply with the requirements of the Labor Inspectorate.
We hope you found this post on team alignment interesting. If you would like more information about our emotional well-being program for companies, ask us, and we will contact your team as soon as possible.
