workshops work 114 - How to facilitate alignment with Lindsay Uittenbogaard
Alignment would be one of the first words added to the facilitation dictionary, but the concept can sometimes suffer with a reputation as a ‘washy’ or ‘soft’ topic.
Lindsay Uittenbogaard is leading the mission to change that perception completely, with a data-focused, scientific interpretation of what it means for teams to be aligned… and misaligned.
Join us in this episode as we explore what it means when a team is misaligned, how we can measure and improve alignment, and why – in the end – absolute alignment should never be the goal.
Sharpen your skillset by spending an hour with Lindsay – you won’t regret it!
Find out about:
- How data can assess, measure, and predict convergence and divergence
- Why conversation is not always the best way to discuss alignment
- Why data is essential to understand alignment, but is not enough on its own
- How frameworks and systems offer us an entry point for improving alignment
- The difference between agreement and alignment
- The idiosyncrasies of misalignment in a remote working world
- Tips for listeners who are interested in working on team alignment
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Questions and Answers
[01:09] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator? If you don’t, what do you call yourself?
[02:15] Is alignment measured in quantitative or qualitative data?
[07:22] How do you measure the ‘severity’ of misalignment?
[10:15] What makes starting to work on our misalignments so complicated?
[13:07] Is there a Catch 22 when it comes to addressing misalignment?
[18:46] Can you convince someone to align, even if you can’t convince them to agree?
[23:03] What’s an example of a situation in which misalignment is normal and fine to leave as it is?
[30:12] Can you ‘overalign’ by going too granular and focused in the work?
[33:33] Have pandemic-enforced remote work amplified the issue of misalignment?
[36:10] How can we demystify alignment and give people a clearer definition of it?
[42:39] What three questions would you advise a team leader ask their team to get an alignment ‘temperature check’?
[43:09] What are the risks in trying to align a team when you don’t know how to do so?
[44:40] What leads to increased frustration in teams, related to misalignment?
[48:05] Do you have a favourite exercise?
[49:21] What is the threshold for ‘acceptable’ misalignment and problematic misalignment?
[52:48] What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?
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