Stratsuma

Category: Alignment

  • Does Your Team Know Your Strategy?

    To give you the best chance of achieving your ambition, everyone on your team, from the top down, should understand the “what” as well as the “why”. With this understanding, team members can connect their individual contributions to the bigger picture. This understanding ignites motivation and increases confidence in the company. 

    Despite the importance of understanding your company strategy, a 2015 study by McKinsey consultants found that only 34% of Directors admitted to fully understanding theirs. And compared with the rest of the company, Directors are doing well. According to Harvard Professors Kaplan and Norton only 5% of total employees understand their company strategy. That is largely because, while it is pretty easy to share a strategy – a quick mention in a townhall or company-wide email isn’t enough. Ensuring everybody actually understands it takes work.

    On the other hand, and in the case of the 66% of Directors in the McKinsey study, failing to understand the strategy comes with unwanted challenges. James Schoen, co-founder of Trumbug, has seen this firsthand in some of his previous corporate roles, noting that a lack of common understanding “causes frustration and inefficiency. It’s crucial to have clear priorities and a well-understood strategy to avoid these issues.”

    So if our north star is that everyone understands the strategy, how do we do it? Here are some ideas:

    Townhalls and company meetings are a good starting point, but they are the bare minimum. They are a great way to bring everyone together and introduce the strategy in a clear and personal way. Leaders must share the “what” and “why”, and make the session exciting and memorable. A lack of passion and good storytelling at this stage will kill off any chances to get your organization aligned.

    Your people need to see your strategy often, so make sure it is always visible. You can use posters, screensavers, or even display it on screens in common areas like the cafeteria. The idea is that people should see the strategy often enough that it becomes second nature. In fact, a “lack of repetition” is the “number one challenge that people that created good strategy have,” according to Stukent founder Stu Draper. He continues “If you have key initiatives for your strategy, those key initiatives need to be on the wall in every department’s office.” Just like repeating a favorite song helps you remember the lyrics, seeing the strategy regularly will help everyone keep it in mind as they go about their daily work. Remember, repetition doesn’t spoil the prayer!

    Keep the conversation going by having leaders talk about the strategy regularly. This means giving updates on how things are progressing and what steps are being taken to achieve the strategic ambition. Share what is going well, where the team is struggling, celebrate recent initiative wins together. When leaders consistently communicate about the strategy, it shows that it’s a living part of the organization, not just a one-time announcement. This ongoing dialogue helps keep everyone informed and engaged, enabling the strategy to remain on track and actually make a difference.

    Use stratuma to develop a ready-to-share strategy on a page, and to facilitate constant progress updates to ensure you can bring your ambition to life.

  • The Importance of Strategic Alignment

    Imagine a rowing team where each member paddles in a different direction. Where would the boat go? Your guess is as good as mine – but certainly not toward its intended destination. The same principle applies to strategy and transformation. Without alignment between leadership and initiative teams, even the most brilliant strategies remain just ideas at best – or sources of confusion at worst.

    Getting Aligned: Building a Shared Understanding

    Alignment starts before the strategy is even set. It’s not something handed down from leadership – it’s something built together. Aligned teams share a consistent understanding of their work and how it contributes to the organization’s broader ambition. This clarity not only increases motivation but also accelerates execution.

    Jacqueline Madison of Ticketmaster describes the power of this alignment:

    “The strategy should be so well understood by everyone that each team member makes decisions like any leader would – even smaller micro decisions.”

    To get there, leaders must prioritize collaboration from the start:

    • Before setting your strategy, listen to your teams. Involving team members early creates a shared sense of ownership and ensures you’re incorporating frontline insights. For example, a sales leader shaping a new go-to-market strategy should first engage with sellers to understand their challenges and perspectives.
    • During the strategy-setting process, co-create the vision. Strategy should never be built in isolation. As Jacqueline explains, “Good strategies are ones that are co-created. Leaders don’t do strategy well by sitting in a box and not talking to other people.” In our sales example, a leader might hold a working session with key team members to draft the strategy together, ensuring alignment from day one.

    Staying Aligned: Reinforcing Strategy Over Time

    Alignment isn’t a one-time event – it’s an ongoing discipline. Once the strategy is in place, the real challenge is ensuring teams stay connected to it through execution.

    • Communicate the strategy consistently. Jacqueline shares how she ensures continued alignment at Ticketmaster: “I communicate the strategy regularly to different groups of people, and while it may feel repetitive, it’s really required for everyone to be on the same page.” Leaders should make strategy discussions a regular habit – whether through team meetings, check-ins, or company-wide updates.
    • Maintain progress visibility. For transformational initiatives, teams must regularly share progress with leadership to ensure continued alignment. This not only prevents teams from drifting off course but also reinforces accountability and momentum.

    Too often, organizations invest heavily in setting a strategy, only to let it fade into the background. When leaders stop reinforcing key initiatives, teams lose direction, motivation, and ultimately fail to achieve results. Successful strategies don’t just live in a document – they live in the minds of every team member.

    As Jacqueline puts it, true alignment means each person understands the strategy so well that their confidence “empowers them to show up and be successful.”

    By treating strategy as a living, breathing part of daily work, leaders can ensure their teams aren’t just paddling – but paddling together in the right direction.