Failure to Communicate = Misalignment

By Mickey North Rizza

Business strategies are developed all the time. Business strategies often fail during implementation because the strategies are not shared with those that need to execute them. George Palmatier said it well: Failure to Deploy is often a Failure to Communicate. Communication failure leads to misalignment. If you don’t communicate the expectations, how do you expect others to execute when they don’t know the expectations?
Misalignment is caused by data, different drivers and different definitions. Business strategies set the expectations, but without the expectations, the execution will take on a life of its own – to a different set of expectations. Enter in misalignment – two different points of view leading to two different efforts, which may or may not result in a similar outcome.

Taking control of the outcome requires the business strategies to be communicated along with expectations of the outcome as part of the communication. This leads to an opportunity to be innovative on the ideas and processes necessary to achieve the outcomes, typically exceeding expectations and also being aligned.

Communicate and improve your chances of alignment.

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