Team Alignment: What’s the one thing?

Your one and only. Dr Anita, my neuro, gave me that permission, that prescription early on. Because I didn’t want to be a mum who was boiling pasta over the stove and have a seizure only to fall on that pot and have boiling water fall on my kids. (FYI- I’m fine but I do have epilepsy and sleep deprivation is the biggest trigger.)

My sleep is the one thing WE protect in our family… every single one of us. 

We all know why and our day to day actions and decisions are made with my sleep in mind.

What about you?

When it comes to your work, what’s the one thing you prioritise above everything else in your team? That one thing that enables everything else?

Hot tip: this one thing shouldn’t be a ‘you’ thing, it’s a ‘we’ thing. It’s not held at an individual level, it’s held at a team level.

It’s the one thing that unites your team. All your team members can name it. Everyone signs up and buys into it and it helps you work better – rallying together behind one common goal. 

Having your team aligned is like cracking into a safe. It’s only when the dial is turned in the right sequence, left click, right click and then the gears click into place, the door opens. 

Finding the right ‘code’ entails a few key things – trust, respect and safety. This doesn’t always come easy and of course, every team is different and has its varying challenges – trust me when I say you are not alone if this is something you need to work on with your team.

And then there’s coming together to talk about it.

Conversations create alignment for your team and can provide clarity and purpose.

When you’re not aligned you’ll see:

• Stakeholders unclear on what you stand for
• People pursuing their own agendas
• Lack of accountability 
• Duplication and waste of effort
• Learning focused on the individual, not the collective.

And when you are aligned… you find the gold. You get the goods. 

What’s the one one thing your team is aligned on? How do you know you're on the same page?

This article was first published as a blog on our website