How to Align Operations with Other Leadership and Development Teams

One of the major issues companies face in any industry is teams working in silos. Although departments may not always clearly align, it's important to remember that everyone in the organization is working to enhance the mission the company was built on. But the universal challenge is how do you ensure everyone in the organization is on the same page? 1851 Franchise sat down with two industry experts who shared their tips for creating a more cohesive team.

“I’m a believer that communication solves 99 percent of issues in the industry,” shared David Burgess, Chief Operations Officer at Famous Toastery. Burgess believes that there is no problem, big or small, that cannot be solved with adequate communication.

He continued, “The foundation of any team is proper communication. We speak as a group at least once a week and we go over everything in person. We speak daily, almost multiple times throughout the day, individually. Too many times one part of the system doesn’t know what the other part is doing, especially as we grow. The more we communicate, the easier that will be.”

Sharon Peterson, Best in Class Education Center’s VP of Franchise Recruitment & Development, couldn’t agree more. “Communication is key because at the end of the day, things will fall through the cracks.” Her team is sure to touch base weekly, if not daily, to keep one another updated on happenings within each individual team.

At Best in Class, the focus on technological innovation is also something that has set them up for success. “There are a lot of different ways we use technology to stay ahead of the curve. Zoom is really fantastic. You can share with your team and video chat. It helps us establish stronger relationships. With our group monthly meeting, we use Google Meeting which helps us actually see everyone on the team. There are a lot of different ways we use technology to stay ahead of the curve,” said Peterson.

In addition to technology, both Peterson and Burgess highlight the importance of calling out employees that are doing a great job. Through weekly newsletters or during stakeholder meetings, these shout-outs are key components in creating an environment where employees are able to feel proud of their accomplishments and feel acknowledged for everything they do.

Ultimately, the most important thing is taking time to understand what works best for your team. If you’re an organization where members prefer face-to-face conversations over emails, make it a point to have quick meetings to catch up on to-dos in order to enhance that in-person relationship and create a more productive environment.

As Burgess shared, “You have to find out what’s best for your team. It doesn’t matter if you’re using an app or phones, as long as you’re communicating and everyone is on the same page with how you're going to communicate, then everything is going to work.