Excuse the boat analogy, but having a team ‘rowing in the same direction’ can increase productivity by up to 200%. Is your company united in direction by a common purpose and vision? Companies with aligned business goals are built to outperform competitors who lack strategic direction.

• Where are you going?
  How can you expect employees to focus their energy in the same direction, if they don’t know what that direction is? If you’ve got a vision or mission statement, awesome! Take some time to remind your employees what that vision is, and ensure that everyone is on board and aligned to make it happen. If not, consider including your team and build one collaboratively. Working together to create the vision is a great way to ensure everyone is bought in to make it happen.

• How are you going to get there?
  Do your employees know what is expected of them day to day outside of completing their work? What behaviours or individual actions will contribute, or detract, from your company culture? Are there guiding behaviours that will help your team achieve their overall purpose and contribute to the company culture you are trying to build?

• Who is going to make that happen?
  Don’t hire jerks; hire people that you naturally want to be around. Try mixing thinkers with doers, and ensure all new hires are aligned with the company’s vision or mission and guiding behaviours. You can train the skills, but you can’t train the attitude or fit.