Imagine you call a leadership team meeting to gauge how important the team feels digital transformation is to the company. Would anyone dare say it is not a strategic imperative, even if they privately thought it wasn’t? The meeting ends with seemingly clear agreement that digital transformation is mission critical. But what happens after the meeting, when the person tasked to lead digital transformation asks team members to nominate people to work on the effort? All too frequently, everyone says they can’t spare their scarce resources.
A Simple Way to Get Your Leadership Team Aligned on Strategy
Real-time digital polling can reveal what people really think.
January 02, 2019
Summary.
Leadership teams are often misaligned on strategy, even though they don’t seem to be on the surface. The problem is that in team meetings, people tend to publicly agree with the company’s direction (particularly if the boss is present). But when it comes time to allocate resources to a new agreed-upon strategy — say digital transformation — the seeming agreement turns into active resistance. Few are willing to spare the needed resources. One solution is anonymous real-time digital polling. By having team members vote in real-time, differences of opinion are readily revealed. This then can lead to focused discussion and consensus-building.
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HBR Learning
Leading People Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Leading People. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
What you need to know about being in charge.