For our first part of this series on team alignment, I would like to give you a high-level overview on what team alignment is. After that, I will show you how to apply it in your own company.
What is Team Alignment?
A team can’t operate at its full potential if the team members have different goals or are working towards their own objectives. This becomes increasingly important for larger teams where one person’s low performance has a greater impact on other people’s work because the output becomes harder to distinguish, while at the same time being likely more valuable for customers or users. So, to improve the team effectiveness it makes sense that everybody works towards the same goal(s) and understands how they contribute to this goal.
In order to create team alignment there are several steps you can follow:
Start with yourself!
If you want the team to be aligned, then start by being aligned yourself. You should have a clear goal that is shared across the company and explain how your work contributes towards it. If you’re not sure what your personal goals are, maybe it’s time to ask yourself why you’re doing all of this in the first place.
For example if your goal is “to make money” or “to learn new technologies” or even more specific like “I want to take over the world”, but none of these options says anything about how exactly will you achieve them? Is it through day-trading? Is it by starting your own company and selling it to Google after two years? Or is it, maybe, building something that could change the world for better – whatever that means to you.
Also Read: Sprint Backlog and Product Backlog: A Nerd’s Guide
Argue with data
Next thing I do when trying to convince somebody about anything is to ask myself if there’s any data out there supporting my point of view. If yes, then I will go check it. It makes me feel so powerful knowing everything written in books or papers or encyclopedias! Like this one for example : “The number of psychotherapists doubled in the past 10 years.” That sounds like a nice argument but before you get tempted into becoming an armchair critic that doesn’t even care about doing his own research, let’s briefly check what it means.
Look for data
The following answer on the same question three years ago shows that there are about 81 800 clinical psychologists practicing in the USA (the number doubled indeed but actually it was up to 160 400 so I guess not everybody agrees with this statement). If you want more, here it is . To be fair, these are “clinical” psychologists. It’s different from being a psychotherapist. But still…it doesn’t look like the number increased tenfold, does it?
Do your own research – always!
This way of thinking may seem obvious but probably only because I just said it. My primary school teacher used to say, who is now in Product Management space, that if somebody told us something then we were supposed to go check the source before believing what was written down. I guess the only thing that’s changed is that today people believe anything they read on the internet without checking its authenticity. It really scares me sometimes when I witness how easily manipulated people are becoming (be it via media or social networks). What always helped me to draw my own conclusions was thinking for myself and not being afraid of expressing my personal opinion .
Do your research about scientology – always!
If you have been living under a rock for the past decade, then let me tell you this: if somebody wants to convince you of their beliefs, they will probably find a way to do so even if it means lying through their teeth. Scientology is no exception here. You might have heard a lot of them but some people just won’t know better and start believing in their lies. Or what about some of these beauties?
Also Read: 4 Types Of Product Strategy: Which One Is Right For Your Business?
Scientology is a legalized pyramid scheme
The more people you recruit, the richer you get! Yeah, that’s right. There are even some critics who compare it to a modern slavery system. So next time when your friend tells you how much money they make, ask them this: would they be willing to bet on 100% of their income for one year? Because that’s exactly what Scientology demands from its staff members.
The Church of Scientology has been under FBI investigation numerous times already because of fraud and other crimes against humanity . If the United States government thinks that there is something fishy going on within the Church, why do so many people still join the organization? In the past 10 years alone, Scientology’s Celebrity Center has seen a 40% growth in membership, and we all know that celebrities are one of the things Scientologists love most.
They even call themselves “the Hollywood religion”. If you don’t care enough about your career or if you like to indulge yourself into some high-end partying every now and then, obviously you may not feel too good about this cult; but let me assure you: they will change your mind.
