Six Steps to Ensure Organizational Alignment

Marshall Goldsmith is a world authority in helping successful leaders achieve positive, lasting change in behavior.

In a Harvard Business Online article "Six Steps to Ensure Alignment" Goldsmith suggests having a quarterly one-on-one meetings with each of your direct reports. In each of these meetings, address the following six key questions. Ideally, each question will result in a two-way dialogue that helps clarify priorities, ensures alignment, and promotes mutual understanding:

1. Where are we going?
2. Where are you going?
3. What are you doing well?
4. What changes can lead to improvement?
5. How can I help?
6. What suggestions do you have for me?

BOTTOMLINE: "In between each quarterly six questions dialogue, establish your mutual responsibility for continued alignment. Let your team members be responsible for immediately contacting you if they are ever uncertain about priorities or need feedback. You areresponsible for contacting and updating your team members, if the business situation changes and you need to re-set priorities."