When the Team Doesn't Align

What happens when the team doesn’t show up? If everything happens within the context of relationship there are going to be times in which the relationships don’t align. When we are tasked with a mission but the people around us aren’t aligned challenges arise. Here are a few things to work on that may help such discord.

Explicitly define the mission - We often take missional alignment (purpose) for granted and focus on tactical alignment (tasks and processes). When disagreements happen they may more likely be rooted in a competing vision of the mission than on a disagreement on the best way to achieve the mission. A more explicitly defined mission can help identify areas of clear alignment and misalignment.

Continually reenforce missional language - how we speak reflects how we think. If we begin to conform our language to a particular purpose that purpose becomes more clear, more deeply rooted, and easily expressed in words and actions.

Work within other’s framework - Sometimes no matter how hard we try, alignment may not happen. Here we have some options. We may be able to change the members of the team. Although this is not always possible, missional misalignment is a good reason to change out team members. If we aren’t in a position to change team members and can't leave ourselves, we may have to find a way to work within other people’s frameworks, but for the mission of the team. This means being strategic in how we approach team members, especially if we know the mission alone will not produce the necessary energy to focus on tactics.

Sometimes working with people means looking at things through their eyes.