As we continue through the COVID-19 crisis, team alignment might not look like a top priority. Here’s our theory, though: it will be critical for rebuilding healthy business.

In theory, team alignment is straightforward and goes something like this: the CEO or another C-suite member lays out goals and a vision for reaching them, the goals are written down, managers say “Sure!” and help workers understand what they’re working toward. Alignment!

In reality, team alignment goes much deeper than verbal agreement or the absence of dissent—and there’s a lot at stake for both an organization’s health and a CEO’s tenure when members of one department or across departments are out of alignment.

Strategy is a big word. Every decision maker faces the task of developing and deploying strategic initiatives many times throughout the year. Whether it is the C-suite, VPs with profit and loss responsibilities, directors in charge of initiatives, and managers leading front-line operations, everyone is looking for better information that will help drive strategic decisions.

When developing new strategic initiatives and guiding strategy deployment, decisions makers need a targeted and specific grasp of their customer and employee priorities. Advancements in online feedback collection and data analysis are yielding more and more sophisticated methods for gathering insights that lead to making more informed and better decisions. The Action Priorities Grid (APG) is one of the latest methods for doing just that.