What to Do If There's Friction Between Your Corporate Goals and Your On-Site Operations

A recent survey found that only 5% of employees understand their company's strategy or how they contribute to it. This can create a lot of friction between your corporate goals and on-site operations.

This is especially concerning in the real estate industry. Competition is fierce and customers expect the best, making alignment problems a huge obstacle to your goals. It can lead to missed opportunities and wasted resources.

So what can you do to remedy the situation? Keep reading for tips on how to overcome this alignment problem and achieve your business development goals.

What Causes Friction Between Corporate Goals and On-Site Operations?

Friction between corporate goals and on-site operations occurs when there's a disconnect between the two. This can happen for several reasons, and identifying the specific source is the first step toward resolving the problem. Some common sources of friction are:

Lack of Clarity or Communication

If your corporate goals are not clearly defined, communicated, or understood, your on-site operations team may not know what's expected of them. This can lead to confusion, frustration, and errors.

Lack of Resources

Regular feedback and recognition are crucial to driving business growth. Otherwise, your employees may feel undervalued, ignored, or unappreciated. This can lead to disengagement, resentment, and reduced productivity.

Top Strategies to Resolve Friction

Once you've identified the sources of friction between corporate goals and on-site operations, you need to implement strategies to resolve them. Here are some of the strategies you can use.

Clarify and Communicate

Make sure that everyone in your organization knows what your corporate goals are. They should understand why those goals are important, and how they can contribute to them.

There are various channels and formats you can use to convey your message. This includes newsletters, meetings, webinars, videos, emails, and more. You should also encourage feedback and questions from your staff, and address any concerns or objections they may have.

Align Your Incentives and Rewards With Your Goals

Another way to reduce friction is to align your incentives and rewards with your business development goals. For example, if you aim to improve the operational efficiency of your properties, reward the facility managers who do it best.

Alternatively, share the savings with tenants through rent discounts. This can go a long way toward motivating your on-site operations team. It also creates a win-win situation for everyone.

Leverage Technology and Data to Optimize Your Operations

Technology makes it easy to gather data regarding nearly every operational aspect of your property. This provides invaluable insights into performance in key areas like safety, security, energy use, space utilization, and more.

Armed with this data, you can make smart and targeted choices that drive smooth business operations. These include reducing waste, improving productivity, and delivering a better experience for tenants. This approach also helps shift the time and attention of your team from reactive to proactive.

Provide Ample Training and Support

More often than not, resistance stems from a lack of skills or knowledge. This is where training and support can prove a worthy investment. It can equip your staff with the right skills to perform their duties.

Training also boosts your team's confidence, enabling them to do the job effectively and efficiently. You can achieve this through workshops and webinars. Also, leverage online resources like tutorials and FAQs to help them answer any questions easily.

Involve Your On-Site Operations in Decision-Making

Another tip to overcome friction is to involve the onsite team in making decisions. When facility crews help shape decisions that affect operations, they feel invested in outcomes. This motivates them to help translate plans into reality.

Moreover, people support what they help build. Contributing ideas to strategies also gives your team a deeper understanding of your corporate goals. This enables their cooperation in carrying out new directions.

You can also learn a lot from the people involved directly in running your smart buildings. They provide valuable information and suggestions that you would otherwise miss. This goes a long way toward aligning operations with goals.

Celebrate Successes and Learn from Failures

A positive way to reduce friction is to acknowledge and reward the achievements of your team but learn from mistakes. Whether it's a small or major victory, praising a milestone helps boost morale. It encourages them to keep striving for the success of your business.

On the other hand, it's important to probe shortcomings to grow skills. Approach them with empathy to build trust for candid analysis without blame.

Understanding the root causes of the setback provides clarity. This helps bolster vulnerable areas through training and other tools.

Keep in mind that it's important to balance celebration with inquiries. The goal is to nurture a culture that praises success but explores opportunities for progress. Too much of one or the other can hurt business growth.

Build Trust and Honesty

Cultivating a culture of honesty helps strengthen partnerships. Be open to admitting difficulties with onsite teams and discussing possible solutions. Follow through on any commitments you have. This helps demonstrate dependability while building mutual trust.

Remember that consistency is key. This is especially true when it comes to the strategies mentioned above. It shows your people that you're considerate, which fosters collaboration among different departments.

Drive Business Development Goals with Buildings IOT

Aligning your corporate goals with on-site operations is more important than ever. As mentioned beforehand, technology and data are ways to get the job done. That's where Buildings IOT comes in.

As a leading adaptive buildings company, we turn data into actions tailored to the needs of property portfolios. We help you improve operational performance so you can achieve your business development goals faster.

Want to know more? Reach out today to learn more about our services and how they can drive your business.