Time Guide

How Much Time Should You Spend in Align?

A Practical Weekly + Quarterly Guide by Role

Align isn’t a strategy tool you check once a quarter—it’s where the work that matters most comes to life, every week.

Whether you’re leading the company or supporting a frontline team, the time you spend in Align should match your role in driving execution. This isn’t about adding more to your plate. It’s about making sure your best time goes toward moving the company forward.

Here’s how much time you should plan to spend in Align—and how to use that time well. NOTE: This guide does not consider meeting time (like your 60 minute team meeting that you run in the software) as active time.

🧭 C-Suite

1 Hour/Week in Align

Align helps you focus on the execution part and often replaces ineffective time-wasting meetings with clearly aligned and macro-focused meetings instead.

Weekly (15 min/day or 1-2 hr/week):

• Review and update your Company Priorities
• Track Key Metrics and create action plans to present weekly on anything that’s falling behind
• Prepare for and participate in Weekly Team Meetings – Write in your updates, action plans, and ask questions to team members.
• Use Dashboards to spot trends or red flags early

Quarterly Preparation (1-2 hrs):

If you spend the time to reset each quarter and set high quality clear priorities with relevant KPIs, you exponentially increase the impact of day-to-day while also decreasing the time it takes to manage the strategy and see results.

• Define or refresh Quarterly Company Priorities – make sure the Priorities Cascade represents your vision – Creating good priorities is what takes the longest amount of time. Use the AI Priority Coach to brainstorm and work with your leadership team to get feedback.
• Quarterly Strategic Planning Day – We’re not counting on this as active Align action time, but you should definitely use the data in Align to help!
• Confirm overall company success metrics, Critical Numbers, and Leading Indicator KPIs are aligned with your leadership team and visible to the full company – on the OPSP and Company Dashboard

📈 Managers

30 – 60 min/Week in Align

You translate company strategy into team execution. Your job in Align is to guide progress, connect the dots, and keep the team on track.

Weekly Actions (30-60 min/week or about 5-10 min per day):

• Update your own Individual Priority progress
• Track your team’s Priority Progress and coach where needed
• Update and monitor your group’s KPIs —especially those trending red or yellow
• Prep for Weekly Meetings —be prepared (write in your updates) and drive follow-up with Who What Whens

Quarterly Preparation (2 hrs):

This prep is what sets the tone for the rest of the quarter. If the team “gets” it here, the day-to-day follow up is less stressful and more impactful.

• Align your team’s priorities to the company’s strategic goals – Make sure they are rolled up in Align
• Help direct reports create SMART Priorities with clear ownership (try out the AI Priority Coach)
• Review and clean up KPIs—remove what’s not used, highlight what matters – Create Leading & Lagging indicators (try out the AI KPI Suggester)
• Confirm your Meeting Cadence and make sure team members know when and how to update

🛠️ Frontline Team Members

~15–30 Minutes/Week in Align

Think of it like a term paper—wait until the end, and you’re pulling an all-nighter. But spend 15 minutes a day, consistently, and it barely feels like work.

Weekly Actions (5 mins/day or 30 min per week):

• Update your Priority & KPIs before weekly meetings
• Stay engaged in Weekly Meetings and 1:1s by showing up prepared – write in your updates BEFORE the meeting – and speaking to your progress
• Add an action plan to your huddles if you’re off track—don’t leave your team guessing

Quarterly Preparation (1 hr):

Make sure you understand WHY you are doing the daily updates. When you understand why, you can contribute to the overall success of the company with creative solutions.

• Understand how your role ties into company-wide priorities
• Set 1–3 clear priorities that support your team or department – Ask your manager and colleagues for feedback on priority clarity and measurability (try the AI Priority Coach for brainstorming)
• Refresh your understanding of KPIs —what you’re responsible for and why it matters (try the AI KPI Suggester to brainstorm leading indicators)

🧠 Small Time, Big Impact

You don’t need to live in Align—but consistent use keeps your team focused, aligned, and accountable. When every role contributes weekly, your execution engine runs smoother—and your company moves faster.