What gets in the way of your team executing plans with speed? Answer: A lack of a shared reality among team members about what’s the most important action to take first.
You leave success to chance when you expect teammates to magically know how to prioritize and coordinate their focus and energies with other colleagues. What’s more, most humans have a propensity to postpone the most difficult work – thereby suspending the delivery of value you know needs to get to the customer.
Effective collaborative leaders are consistently aligning team members to prioritized actions. Here are 7 questions to keep in your back pocket so you’re ready for those moments when colleagues are deviating from the plan:
- What decision would our customer ask us to prioritize?
- In what ways can we enhance the goal we’re setting to more align with our larger strategy?
- What forms of resistance are we experiencing that we must quickly address?
- What is it we must model right now to ensure the organization stays focused?
- Because circumstances have changed, what must we adapt and prioritize in our plan?
- What key capabilities must we develop in order to succeed with this plan?
- What actions will demonstrate that we’re effectively translating our strategy/plan/ambition into reality?
Bonus: Are we excited about delivering this action item and achieving this goal? (If not, what needs to occur, so we are more energized?)
Hat tip: AP
