Our final step in our Creating alignment series is one of the most crucial – the action plan.

Check the Alignment…..

So, we’ve made sure we know why we do what we do and our teams are on board with our vision.

We’ve thought about the skills that we need and we’ve got the right people in place.

We’ve given them a reason to change, we’ve told them why it’s important; we’ve made them want to believe!

We’ve given them the resources and the tools that they need to do their job so now it’s all about action.

Now it’s down to the “What” in Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle and this is where we need to make it clear, we need to keep communicating, and we need to be consistent again and again.

We need to make sure that the “What we are doing” links back to the “Why we are doing it” and that this is understood through every single level in the business. The actions need to relate to our strategic plans, and be coherent.

Make it relevant to the person….

Can we explain to our team members how their contribution matters, and are we thinking about Adair’s task, team and individual when goal setting?

  • Are we making sure that the team are engaged,
  • the individual fulfilled and
  • that everything we do is aligned back to the task?

Because when we do that, it works. The three circles model is simple for a very good reason – it doesn’t have to be any more complicated.

Be SMART!

Finally, do we have measures and outcomes in place for our action plan, or is it just a list of tasks? How will we know when we have achieved our goals? SMART as a goal setting tool still exists because it works, so don’t be complacent, follow the SMART system!

And ensure that when you have an action plan, communicate it, check it regularly, and review it on a monthly and quarterly basis. It’s no good in the drawer, you have to make it a live document which you use daily, get tea stains on, and scribble notes over. That way you own it, use it and make it happen.