Alignment Company Survey

According to Verne Harnish’s book, Scaling Up, there are 10 fundamental habits that support the successful execution of your strategy.  These “Rock Habits” are a great tool to assess the areas where your company excels and the areas that need additional focus this year or quarter.  

Successful businesses use this checklist as a blueprint, very few have mastered every habit! 

Alignment is a crucial indicator of how well your company is organized and positioned to meet its quarterly and annual goals. There’s no one size fits all solution to scaling successfully, but executives at the most effective organizations prioritize alignment as step one to getting there.

How

Take the in-app survey. The best way to get a full read is to administer the Alignment Company Survey to your whole team at the beginning of every quarter to see your improvement and identify blind spots you may want to address. 

  1. Navigate to the survey in your Culture tools → Survey section. Make sure the messaging is appropriate for your specific company.
  2. Send the survey to everyone on your team and encourage participation.  We recommend keeping the survey anonymous!  
  3. Evaluate the results and make a plan to tackle the area that needs the most focus. 

Questions?  Join us for Ask Align on Tuesdays and Thursdays!

Analysis

We recommend two options to calculate your scores.   

We’ve helped you get a jump start on your actions below with available resources and recommendations. 

Option 1: Individual Habits

Take the average score for each question and rank them from highest to lowest.  The highest score is the habit that you already do well – celebrate!  The lowest is the area you should explore further to work on this quarter. See below to dig in to some recommendations!

If you look at the bullets under this Habit, you will see not only a focus on Priorities, but also communication and self awareness. Read more in the blog. 

  • Team members understand each other’s differences, priorities, and styles
  • The team meets frequently (weekly is best) for strategic thinking
  • The team participates in ongoing executive education (monthly recommended)
  • The team is able to engage in constructive debates and all members feel comfortable participating

Recommended next steps if you are not already doing it…

  1. Set up a weekly leadership huddle – Emphasize the importance of consistency and openness. Suggest a regular, fixed schedule and encourage an environment where every member feels comfortable sharing insights and challenges.
  2. Executive Education as a Priority: Clarify the objective. This could be aimed at keeping abreast of industry trends, leadership development, or personal growth. Encourage setting specific educational priorities for each quarter.
  3. Take the DISC assessment and talk about it with your team. Understanding diverse communication styles and personalities can enhance team dynamics and decision-making. Set up a session to discuss these styles and how they can be leveraged for better team performance.You can record the results in your personal profile in the software. 

Check out “Align for Leaders” for additional actionable steps and guidance specific to the executive or leadership team.

Digging deeper into this habit, you find these clarifying points…read more in the blog. 

  • The Critical Number, or leading indicator of success, is identified to move the company ahead this quarter
  • 3-5 Priorities (Rocks) that support the Critical Number are identified and ranked for the quarter.
  • A Quarterly Theme and Celebration/Reward are announced to all employees that bring the Critical Number to life. 
  • Quarterly Theme/Critical Number posted throughout the company and employees are aware of the progress each week.

Recommended Actions:

Overall, this indicates a need to prioritize ONE GOAL.  Having a single, overarching goal helps to concentrate efforts and resources, making it more achievable.

  • Define the Critical Number (s) – This number ties to the one goal. Make sure every person in the company understands its significance and how it drives the company forward.
  • Identify the #1 Company Priority – Align this #1 Priority with the Critical Number.  Make sure to break down this #1 Priority into smaller, actionable priorities that can be tracked. Make sure to label it as the #1 priority!
  • Bi-Weekly Tagged #1 Priority Huddle – Keeping focus throughout the quarter on the #1 Priority and holding the team accountable is best done through consistent huddles. This huddle is vital to ensuring you stay on track and keep momentum all the way to the finish line.  How do you do a Tagged Huddle? 

Already on top of all of that?  Go a little deeper!

  • Make sure every person has an individual goal or task that aligns with the #1 Priority
  • Add your Critical Number(s) to the Company Dashboard and make sure it’s displayed throughout the office (if you’re in person!)
  • Create a recognition time in your Friday All-Hands huddle to recognize outstanding progress towards your Critical Number

Digging in deeper…read the blog:

  • All employees participate in a daily huddle that lasts less than 15 minutes
  • All teams have a weekly meeting
  • The executive and middle managers meet for a day of learning & resolving big issues each month
  • Quarterly and annually, the executive and middle managers meet offsite to work on the 4 Decisions.

Recommended Next Steps: 

Re-establish a strong communication rhythm. Do this with

  • Daily and Weekly Huddles – Although this seems like the most straightforward one to work on, Daily Huddles are often the hardest to adopt.  The objection of “one more meeting” is a strong feeling in many organizations and the job of a leader is to help the team understand that THIS additional meeting will actually help you save time.Check out these “Rules of the Road” that will set the tone and give everyone an understanding of the right content and goal of the meeting.
  • Watch this webinar from business coach Jennifer Faught about the value of huddles and communication. 
  • Set up your eNPS and bring attention to Suggestions – These culture tools give a mechanism for feedback to start flowing in the organization. This ensures continuous improvement and addresses any potential issues quickly.

Here are some details about this habit that you may find interesting…read the blog.

  • The Function Accountability Chart (FACe) is completed (right people, doing the right things, right). 
  • Financial statements have a person assigned to each line item.
  •  Each of the 4-9 processes on the Process Accountability Chart (PACe) has someone that is accountable for them. 
  • Each 3-5 year Key Thrust/Capability has a corresponding expert on the Advisory Board if internal expertise doesn’t exist.

Recommended Actions: 

There are two parts to this one, assigning the person and holding accountability.  

Step 1: Identify the Assignments

  • Do the FACe and PACe exercises to identify the important areas of the company and makes sure one person is assigned.  Review your charts to ensure responsibilities are evenly and realistically distributed.  This helps avoiding overburdening a single person and ensures balanced accountability.  
  • Review these charts during your quarterly planning sessions to ensure they remain relevant and effective.

Step 2: Holding accountable

  • Add Leading Indicator KPIs to your Company-Wide dashboard for each area. These KPIs are predictive and influenceable rather than just lagging indicators. 
  • Bring those KPIs into 1:1s, Weekly Meetings, and Scorecards and review the numbers! Keep those numbers alive in the organization. 
  • Create SMART priorities around the areas that need work to create focused effort for improvement…some may rise to the level of Company-Wide Priorities. 
  • Provide training and resources to those assigned to key areas, especially if they are new to the role or the KPIs are challenging.
  • Celebrate Success and learn from shortcomings – Recognize achievements in meeting KPIs and learn constructively from areas where goals were not met. This fosters a positive accountability culture.

Digging deeper into this habit, you will see…read more in the blog:

  • All executives (and middle managers) have a Start/Stop/Keep conversation with at least one employee weekly. 
  • The insights from employee conversations are shared at the weekly executive team meeting. 
  • Employee input about obstacles and opportunities is being collected weekly. 
  • A mid-management team is responsible for the process of closing the loop on all obstacles and opportunities. 

Recommended Actions:

  • Set up a monthly eNPS and review in your monthly (or one of the weekly) management meetings.  eNPS helps in identifying employee satisfaction and loyalty.  In addition, the comments will give you a heads up if a deeper issue may need to be addressed.  In addition to eNPS, make sure the team knows about the anonymous suggestions!
  • Monthly All-Hands Meeting- Talk to your team about the feedback in a monthly all-hands meeting and make sure they know you are listening, even if immediate action is not taken! Your team needs to know their input is taken seriously. If you are able to address any of the feedback, make sure to give concrete actions and follow through with your plans. 
  • Include a feedback area in your 1:1 template for all managers and encourage those managers to bring relevant feedback up the chain.  Provide training for managers on how to solicit and handle feedback during 1:1s including active listening techniques and open ended questions. 

This Habit is focused on collection and visibility of the data. Read more in the blog. Some additional bullets around this point are:

  • All executives (and middle managers) have a 4Q conversation with at least one end user weekly. 
  • The insights from customer conversations are shared at the weekly executive team meeting
  • All employees are involved in collecting customer data. A mid-management team is responsible for the process of closing the loop on all customer feedback.

Recommended Actions

  • Weekly Huddle Updates on Customer Feedback: Regularly updating the team on customer feedback keeps everyone informed and engaged with customer experience as a priority. Structure the updates to highlight key feedback themes, customer satisfaction trends, or any recurring issues.
  • NPS Survey and Dashboard KPI: Start doing a Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction. Don’t just track the NPS score on your dashboard, but also analyzing it for trends and actionable insights. Use the historical chart on the KPI card to see the overarching trend. This can involve diving deeper into the reasons behind promoters, passives, and detractors.
  • Make a Priority around Executive Focus on Target Customers: Executives should name their target customer each week in huddle, then share insights or experiences related to them. This keeps the leadership team connected to the customer experience.  Make sure to write your insights into the huddle so you can follow-up with the team on how these customer insights are being used to improve products, services, or processes.

What does “alive” mean? Read more in the blog. 

  • Core Values are discovered, Purpose is articulated, and both are known by all employees. 
  • All executives and middle managers refer back to the Core Values and Purpose when giving praise or reprimands. 
  • HR processes and activities align with the Core Values and Purpose (hiring, orientation, appraisal, recognition, etc.). 
  • Actions are identified and implemented each quarter to strengthen the Core Values and Purpose in the organization

Recommended Actions: 

  • Do you know your core values?  Core values serve as a guiding light for decision-making and behavior from hiring to day-to-day interactions.
    • Check out this Daily Dose podcast episode and this article about staying Aligned.
    • Use the Align Survey tools to discover core values and their impact on your team.  Try creating a question for each Core Value and give some options for how to phrase the value, what resonates deepest with the team?
  • Shoutouts! Recognize and celebrate examples of core values in action to reinforce the value and boost morale.
    • Use Friday’s all-hands huddle for shoutouts – make sure people write them down in the huddle section so they are well thought out and you have a record.
    • Choose a shout-out owner who is responsible for encouraging shout-outs throughout the org and running the time in huddle – this is a great position for a rising leader to get some visibility.
  • Scorecard and Hiring Practices – If every person strives to embody the core values and each person you hire strongly correlates with them, you’ll organically build the culture to lift each value up.
    • Include Core Values as a part of each person’s review either in their scorecard or on their own.
    • Create a hiring matrix that gives interviewers guidance on questions to ask to dig deeper into the core values for each potential new hire.

These foundational components are:

  • Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) – Progress is tracked and visible. 
  • Core Customer(s) – Their profile in 25 words or less. 
  • 3 Brand Promises – And the corresponding Brand Promise KPIs reported on weekly. 
  • Elevator Pitch – A compelling response to the question “What does your company do?”

Read more in the blog!

Recommended Actions:

  • First things first, do you have these areas defined?  Take some time each week with your management team to work on these areas until you have the nailed down.  If you’re stuck, we highly recommend talking to a coach or facilitator or using a targeted coaching session to get you over the roadblock!
    • For some companies, these foundational items come naturally and are fairly clear from the beginning. For most companies, this is a process involving the entire team collaborating, passionately discussing, and coming to a consensus (hopefully!).  These are important areas to define and you are lucky if you have the passionate people on your team that care deeply enough to discuss and share their opinions!  Let those conversations happen and take the time dig deep into each area.
    • If you’re stuck, we highly recommend talking to a coach or facilitator or using a targeted coaching session to get you over the roadblock! A fresh, external perspective that a coach or facilitator can bring will help tremendously in overcoming roadblocks or biases. 
  • Once defined – Reinforce in your company by integrating them into everyday operations. Create a company priority around this and see where your team’s creativity takes you!  Some areas could be:
    • Meeting Agendas
    • Decision Making Processes
    • Internal Communications

This habit is all about data! Read more in the blog. 

  • 1 or 2 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are reported on weekly for each role/person.
  • Each employee has 1 Critical Number that aligns with the company’s Critical Number for the quarter (clear line of sight).
  • Each individual/team has 3-5 Quarterly Priorities/Rocks that align with those of the company. 
  • All executives and middle managers have a coach (or peer coach) holding them accountable to behavior changes.

Recommended Actions:

  • Define the Important Numbers – What does success look like for each role?
    • Ask each person to identify 1-3 KPIs that mean they are successful including the actions in their role they can do to affect those numbers.  Managers should help connect those numbers to the Team and Company-Wide KPIs.
    • Remember, even if they are not perfect, you have to start somewhere or you’ll never start at all! Data literacy comes with practice and training, you may want to offer a coaching session for each team to help them think about their numbers creatively!
  • Make these KPIs visible – The identified numbers and their leading indicators should be actively reviewed every day/week to build in focus and accountability.
    • Ask each person to add their overall KPIs along with leading indictors to their MY Dashboard in the software.
    • Add the KPIs to your weekly huddles and include a text section to talk about if they are on track and if not, the plan to get them back.
    • Include them in your 1:1s to make sure managers are offering coaching or guidance and celebrating when milestones are met!
    • Add the Company and Team Critical Numbers to the Company Dashboard for transparency and visibility.  Every person should understand how the Company numbers

This is another visibility focused habit:

  • A “situation room” is established for weekly meetings (physical or virtual). 
  • Core Values, Purpose and Priorities are posted throughout the company.
  • Scoreboards are up everywhere displaying current progress on KPIs and Critical Numbers.
  • There is a system in place for tracking and managing the cascading Priorities and KPIs.

Recommended Actions: 

  • If you haven’t already, define plans! How can you make it visible if you don’t have it defined?
    • Create space to build a collaborative process around your OPSP foundation and keep track of it in the One Page Plan visible to everyone in the Strategy tab in Align.
    • Identify the company’s Critical Numbers to define performance in black and white numbers.
  • Roll down to teams – Depending on the size of your company, each team should have their own numbers that impact the company-wide numbers.
    • Define Team-Level Critical Numbers and make sure they are visible in the team weekly huddle and each person understands how they contribute to the company-wide numbers.
  • Use Align for visibility – That’s what Align is built to do! Keep these numbers relevant throughout the quarter – make sure they don’t become a “once a quarter” number that looses value and momentum after the first day!
    • The One Page Plan is visible to every user (Admins are the only ones who can update).  Refer to it frequently to push people to know where to go.
    • Critical Numbers for the Company and each Team should be posted on the Company Dashboard and in Monthly or Quarterly All-Hands meetings
    • Include Team Critical Numbers on each person’s MY dashboard and in the weekly team huddles
  • Define Actions and Connections – Visibility is one thing, but seeing movement in your organization requires connection and action.
    •  Make sure each person understands how they impact the overall numbers – look at the Priority Page cascade, how does that person’s priority cascade up into the bigger picture?
    • If the company performance is behind, create an action plan.  Performance could be KPIs, Critical Numbers or Priorities.  If any of those are in the yellow or red, it’s time to sound the alarm and make a change…or at least have a discussion!

Option 2: Functional Areas

Average the scores in each group create to create a master Alignment score separated into Priorities, Data, and Meeting Rhythms.  Remember, each of these habits touches on multiple areas of improvement and should be reviewed in both calculation options. 

Priorities: Habits 1, 2, and 8
Data: Habits 5, 6, 9, and 10
Meeting Rhythms: Habits 3, 4, and 7

Combining Habits 1, 2, and 8 into a functional area called “Priorities” is a strategic way to streamline focus and actions. Here are three comprehensive recommendations addressing the key aspects of these habits:

Follow these 3 steps to make Priorities more of a focus in your company.

Step 1, do this: Establish and Communicate Clear Organizational Priorities.

  • Create a transparent, well-communicated set of organizational priorities that align with the company’s strategic objectives (Habit 2: Aligning everyone with the #1 thing to accomplish).
  • Ensure these priorities reflect both the short-term goals and the long-term vision (BHAG from Habit 8).
  • Use tools and platforms, like Align or Scoreboard, plus regular meetings, to keep these priorities visible and top of mind for all employees.

Step 2, do this: Foster Leadership Alignment and Accountability

  • Engage leaders and executives to be fully aligned and visibly committed to these priorities (Habit 1: Executive team health and alignment).
  • Assign clear accountability for each priority, ensuring that there are designated leaders or teams responsible for progress and outcomes.
  • Regularly review these priorities in leadership meetings and adjust as necessary, maintaining flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances.

Step 3, do this: Engage and Educate Employees on Strategic Priorities

  • Regularly educate and engage employees on how their individual roles contribute to these strategic priorities (Habit 8: Employees’ understanding of the company’s strategy). 1:1’s are a great place to do this!
  • Create forums or channels for employees to provide input on these priorities, fostering a sense of ownership and inclusion.
  • Recognize and reward efforts and achievements that significantly contribute to these priorities, reinforcing their importance.

By focusing on these three areas, you can address the core elements of alignment, accountability, and engagement, essential for successfully implementing and sustaining the Priorities functional area within your organization.

Combining Habits 5, 6, 9, and 10 into a “Data” functional area focuses on leveraging information for organizational growth and employee engagement. Here are three overarching recommendations for this area:

Follow these 3 steps to make data more of a focus in your company.

First do this: Establish a Robust Data Collection and Analysis Framework

  • Develop a system for collecting and analyzing data from various sources, including employee input (Habit 5), customer feedback (Habit 6), and performance metrics (Habits 9 and 10).  Check this out. 
  • Includes tools for regular and systematic collection of data, such as surveys, feedback tools, and performance tracking systems.
  • Emphasize the importance of data accuracy, timeliness, and relevance in decision-making processes.

Second do this: Integrate Data into Daily Operations and Decision Making

  • Make data visibility a priority. Integrate key performance indicators (KPIs) and critical numbers into daily workflows and discussions (Habit 10).
  • Encourage managers and teams to use data-driven insights in regular meetings, huddles, and 1:1s to assess progress and make informed decisions (Habits 6 and 9).
  • Foster a culture where data is not just a reporting tool but a fundamental part of strategic planning and operational execution.

Third do this: Promote Data Literacy and Transparency Across the Organization

  • Invest in training and resources to enhance data literacy among employees, enabling them to understand and effectively use data in their roles (Habits 5 and 9).
  • Encourage transparency in sharing data insights and performance metrics with all employees, reinforcing the message that everyone contributes to and can influence the company’s success (Habit 10).
  • Regularly review and update data collection and analysis methods to ensure they remain aligned with organizational goals and adapt to changing business needs.

By focusing on these key areas, you can create a data-centric environment in your organization that not only informs strategy but also enhances employee engagement and organizational transparency.

Combining Habits 3, 4, and 7 into a functional area called “Meeting Rhythms” emphasizes effective communication, accountability, and cultural alignment through structured meetings. Here are three key recommendations for this area:

Follow these 3 Steps to make Meeting Rhythms more of a focus in your company.

First do this: Establish Consistent and Purposeful Meeting Structures

  • Develop a regular rhythm for various types of meetings, including daily huddles, weekly team meetings, and monthly all-hands gatherings (Habit 3: Communication rhythm).
  • Ensure each meeting has a clear purpose, agenda, and outcomes. This might include reviewing KPIs, discussing progress on goals, or reinforcing core values and purpose. Use the huddle settings in the Align software to reinforce these items.
  • Check out this webinar & blog to make the most of purposeful meetings. 

Second do this: Reinforce Accountability and Performance Review in Meetings

  • Regularly review individual, team, and company-wide accountability for goals and objectives (Habit 4: Accountability for goals) in your huddles.
  • Utilize 1:1 meetings to discuss and update on key performance indicators, ensuring that everyone is aware of how their work contributes to the overall success of the organization. Check out this webinar about leadership!
  • Encourage open dialogue on challenges and support needed, fostering a culture of collective responsibility and problem-solving.

Third do this: Integrate Core Values and Company Culture in Meeting Agendas

  • Reinforce the company’s core values and purpose in meeting discussions (Habit 7: Core values and purpose alive in the organization).
  • Use meetings as opportunities for cultural engagement. Try Friday shoutouts for value-aligned behaviors or monthly discussions on how core values are being lived out in daily operations.
  • Add a section in your monthly meeting for cultural development, where employees can share ideas, stories, or initiatives that promote the company’s core values and purpose.

By focusing on these three key aspects, your “Meeting Rhythms” functional area can enhance communication, foster accountability, and strengthen organizational culture, all through the strategic use of meetings.

Want some help?

The Align Advisors are here to help connect your chosen path with the software. This pack of 3 sessions will get you on your way to being more aligned!

3 sessions for $599 gives your team a focus and a plan! Email advisor@aligntoday.com to get more information and get started. 

Advisory Sessions could be: 

  • Deeper analysis and interpretation
  • Huddle feedback – we’ll attend a huddle and give you feedback
  • Account Review with the habit in mind

Training Session focused on

  • Huddles – how to set up and roll out
  • Priorities – best practices and coaching
  • KPIs/Dashboards 

OR Take advantage of Targeted Coaching sessions tailored to your area of biggest improvement.  These mini-sessions come with 0 commitment to a coach, but give you the benefit of an experienced, certified business coach to facilitate your discussions.