Struggling to align finance and non-finance teams for common goals?

Experience shows having a clearing articulated VISION that you repeat regularly brings culture together. It should be simple enough for a 10 year old to understand and repeat. Shout it from the rooftops whenever you get the chance to your team, stakeholders, family and friends.

Os objetivos devem seguir uma linha, uma diretriz, para toda a organização, devem começar do topo, com os objetivos estratégicos da organização sendo traçados no seu planejamento estratégico, esses objetivos devem "descer" a hierarquia da organização se desdobrando em objetivos mais específicos de cada área, assim, todos irão trabalhar por um objetivo final comum.

There is no letter I in TEAM. There is no letter I in GOAL GOAL TEAM = Productivity In other words SMART GOAL the right TEAM = High Level productivity Keep it simple Don’t overcomplicate it

Quanto mais a equipe se afina no objetivo da empresa ou seja em qualquer área de atuação, mais eficiente será a conclusão desse objetivo.

I don't know what to say, theoretically, we have solutions to build better relations between people, better departments, better companies, and even a better world. Practically, take a look around...

Establishing common objectives is crucial for aligning finance and non-finance teams. By setting overarching goals that benefit the entire organization, such as increasing profitability, both departments can contribute towards achieving these shared targets. Regular meetings and open communication help teams understand their roles in the bigger picture and collaborate effectively.

The biggest challenge is to get all departments on the same page. Make sure that all department's are on the finance page. Explain that no matter what department they are in, their financial contribution/savings always ends up at the bottom line and will help the company. This in turn helps their bonus, the bottom line and the long-term growth for the company. You can never ever over communicate the importance of each role that every employee plays on the company's financial strength and well being. Comunicate...Communicate and Community.

One of the things that has always amazed me is that by segregating functions of a company into different silos has been considered a good idea. I agree with many of the comments that it is imperative to have all elements of company, recognize that they have common turf. Moreover, it’s a collaboration of different perspectives to achieve a common goal. I constantly remind it my teams that we are a service company first with many different products offered to consumers. Focusing that our engine is service and not product makes profit a function of our relationships with customers. It’s a well-established fact that consumers are more willing to pay a higher price for better service. Keep service as the center of business to yield profit.

Schedule regular cross-functional meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and opportunities and open forums to provide platforms for open dialogue, where team members can voice concerns and share ideas. Also Conduct workshops to educate non-finance teams on key financial concepts and their relevance to operational goals so both groups work together towards common goals.

Easy, right!? One on the challenges I faced is where different team members are all at different levels of knowledge and understanding of the business and finances. Adding to it was team members working in different countries or where English was not their first language and many terms used don't easy translate or they have a completely different term. Much of this again comes down to Organisational Culture and willingness to share and discuss a broader range of subjects and topics in team meetings. Unless some staff understand the reason why a manager is taking the time to teach them new aspects of business management, they can easily lose interest. Sometimes, it's simply just facilitating work/social events to connect team members.

Pelas diferenças de conhecimento sobre determinados assuntos, uma comunicação falha pode colocar em risco o atingimento dos objetivos da Cia., logo uma coisa que parece simples, um e-mail, um memorando, que poderia resolver torna-se um grande problema com informações desencontradas e sem valor. Assim, para que isso não ocorra, sempre que necessário, as reuniões de alinhamento de entendimento das informações que devem circular para o atingimento do objetivo, são cruciais em determinados processos.

Training is the most over looked part of many companies. Lack of communication is normally a factor when individuals or departments lack in depth training. The other key to this is to have 1 person for each team that reports back daily exactly where they are at. Lastly, you can't hold others accountable if you don't have clear expectations.

Canais de comunicação são essenciais para a colaboração entre equipes financeiras e não financeiras. Eles facilitam a troca de informações, promovem a transparência, aceleram a tomada de decisões e aumentam a eficiência. Exemplos de canais incluem reuniões multifuncionais, equipes de projeto conjuntas, plataformas online e relatórios. Ao investir em comunicação, as empresas criam um ambiente colaborativo, ágil e inovador.

In my experience, the biggest barrier to alignment is often the lack of effective communication. With the companies I’ve worked with, where I’ve played dual roles like CMO and VP of Sales, we faced this challenge head-on. By establishing bi-weekly cross-functional meetings and creating shared dashboards, we broke down the silos that were hindering our progress. Finance could see the operational impact of their decisions, and operations could understand the financial implications of theirs. This open line of communication not only aligned our teams but also accelerated decision-making, helping us to achieve our goals faster.

A educação financeira nas empresas é um investimento estratégico que traz diversos benefícios tanto para os colaboradores quanto para a organização. Programas de educação financeira ensinam colaboradores a fazer orçamento, diminuem o absenteísmo e turnover, aumentam a produtividade e fortalecem a cultura organizacional. A empresa pode oferecer workshops, palestras, programas online e mentoria. Temas abordados incluem orçamento, investimentos, gestão de dívidas, planejamento para aposentadoria e impostos.

Completely agree, however it depends on the organisations culture and if team members are interested in learning or if the management team are prepared to share. And let's not forget the time required from managers and teams to undertake shared learning. I previously worked with managers on a 1:1 and included basic financial literacy as part of their PDP. As part of defining an organisational culture plan, I previously created an outline as part of staff onboarding and team meetings that included a few basics every month. Some team members will enjoy learning, others may struggle, others may just not be interested. When I worked with younger entrepreneurs still in Education, I used a few different games (online and board games).

This is truth. Every business needs to be profitable for a ton of reasons. You can't get to where you need to be if you can't see. So many times staff is told we need to hit certain numbers. Explain in detail why the financial side is important. What happens directly and in directly when we fall short. What happens when we do great. Again, it's all about training your staff. People want to do the right things but often times they simply just don't have the full training and don't understand their role and why they are doing it. Knowledge is Power !

One thing I've learned is that financial literacy can make or break alignment efforts. In my work with various companies and founders, I’ve noticed that non-finance teams often struggle to see how their actions impact the bottom line. So, I’ve introduced financial literacy workshops tailored to their roles, demystifying concepts like cash flow and ROI. The result? Teams that are not only more informed but also more engaged in achieving our financial targets. This initiative has often been a game-changer in aligning company objectives across all departments.

Possible and achievable but don't expect it to be perfect the first time. I'd suggest starting slowly, with one or two KPIs to start with and thinking through how you'd report on them. Country laws and employment contracts should also be taken into account too. Offering bonuses or gifts when meeting additional targets can be useful, however there's also a balance in terms of what a team member is expected to do (as part of their terms of employment) and as additional requests. When I've implemented these incentives myself, I found that some team members pushed back and saw incentive based tasks as 'more work', others thought it was 'part of their job anyway' and others tried to find cracks in the process or reporting to justify an incentive

Aligning incentive structures is a powerful motivator for teams to work towards shared objectives. When both finance and non-finance teams are rewarded based on the same key performance indicators (KPIs), it aligns their efforts effectively. Balancing financial targets and operational milestones in these incentives fosters a culture of cross-functional collaboration, making it an integral part of the workflow.

When it comes to incentives, I’ve always believed they should drive collaboration, not competition. In my experience with companies I’ve invested in or advised, we’ve revamped incentive structures to ensure finance and operations are rewarded for each other’s successes. We tied finance bonuses to operational efficiency metrics and linked operational rewards to financial performance. This created a shared responsibility for overall success and fostered a culture where cross-functional collaboration became the norm. The impact was immediate—teams started working together more seamlessly, and overall performance improved.

Align Performance Metrics and Incentives 📈 Ensure that performance metrics and incentives are aligned with common objectives. For instance, if the goal is to increase profitability, tie incentives for both finance and non-finance teams to this outcome. This ensures everyone is working towards the same end.

As estruturas de incentivo são ferramentas usadas para aumentar a produtividade, engajar colaboradores e alcançar metas. Programas de incentivo oferecem recompensas por bom desempenho, criando um ambiente motivador. Benefícios como bônus, participação nos lucros e programas de gamificação são alguns exemplos. Estruturas de incentivo bem elaboradas levam a um melhor clima organizacional, redução do turnover e colaboradores mais satisfeitos.

First set clear, common goals and hold regular joint meetings to ensure open communication. Shared KPIs will track progress. Training programs will bridge knowledge gaps, helping everyone understand financial metrics and their roles. Recognizing collaborative efforts will boost morale. Daily progress reports and clear expectations ensure accountability. Simple, effective communication and social events will foster a collaborative culture, creating long-term value for the company and investors.

O feedback contínuo é uma estratégia para fornecer avaliações frequentes e direcionadas aos colaboradores, auxiliando no seu engajamento e desenvolvimento. Para implementá-lo, é preciso criar uma cultura de abertura, estabelecer canais de comunicação regulares, focar no desenvolvimento e utilizar ferramentas digitais. Ao adotar o feedback contínuo, as empresas observam aumento do engajamento, melhoria na comunicação, desenvolvimento de competências e consequentemente, melhores resultados.

Alignment isn’t static; it requires continuous fine-tuning. With the companies and founders I’ve worked with, where I often take on roles like motivator and chieftain, we’ve implemented robust feedback loops that keep us agile. We hold quarterly business reviews that involve all departments, using performance dashboards to track progress against shared goals. This not only keeps everyone accountable but also allows us to make real-time adjustments. The feedback isn’t just top-down; we encourage lateral input as well, fostering a culture of transparency and continuous improvement. This approach ensures that alignment is an ongoing process, not just a one-time effort.

It is all about bringing people together for a common goal. Let’s not worry about the “department” they fall under. All the labels have convoluted things. Everyone needs to understand the common goals and be part of future planning. Talk openly and transparently on what is working and what is not. Let’s call it work “family” meetings.

It is understanding your audience and how they assimilate information. Usually the financial team are data driven and tend to be risk adverse, more pragmatic or even conservative whereas business developers and sales-oriented team members are more innovative and visual so with that understanding of your audience you must take the time to develop customized presentations to convey the goals and objectives with clear emphasis on how it is only through teaming that as a Company you will achieve those goals. The time to prepare those separate presentations will be rewarded with both groups striving for your common goal.

Team building to help them learn to rely on each other. Take them to climb a mountain together, or a similar setting. Nothing helps better.

Culture and attitude are extremely important. Employees are (justifyably) focused on performance indicadors that reflect on them and their department, and that can come at the expense of the all around health of the company. Cutting costs is great, but not if it jeopardizes client relations. Increasing output is wonderful, but not if the required investment outweighs the added revenue. The big-picture mindset needs to come from the top. Encourage and reward performance that yields holistic results, as opposed to on-paper statistics that show a narrow picture. Ultimately, employees are there to earn an income and to further their careers. Build teamwork and interdepartmental cooperation into a matrix that aligns with their career goals.

Leverage Technology and Data Analytics 📊 Use integrated data analytics tools to provide a comprehensive view of organizational performance. This can help both finance and non-finance teams make informed decisions based on a shared understanding of key metrics