Align the team. Because some things don't belong on a BBQ
My friends and I don't see each other as much as I’d like these days. We all lead busy lives and are geographically scattered, making it difficult to arrange meet-ups. However, we try to get together at least once a year for some good old-fashioned outdoor adventuring.
I’d like to tell you a story about one such time.
One misty morning in early spring, we gathered just over the border of Scotland. The plan was to bring our roll mats, sleeping bags, food provisions, and of course, a healthy stash of booze to a remote bothy in the middle of nowhere. There, we would spend the night catching up over a campfire.
Everything was going to plan as we set off on our epic adventure with our giant backpacks firmly on our backs. It was a long and gruelling trek but eventually we arrived at the bothy in the middle of nowhere. It was amazing! A freshwater stream running by, a log burner inside to keep us warm, a platform for us to set up our beds on, and the company of good friends.
After being there just a little while we decided it was time to satisfy our well-earned hunger. A few of us had organised the food. We had a disposable barbecue with us to cook tonight’s meat selection (that we had distributed between us on the walk). Ste had the idea of bringing spare charcoal so we could reuse the barbecue in the morning for a slap-up breakfast. Resourceful as ever!
We cooked up the night’s feast, tucked in and sank a few well earned beers. Happy days.
The night was starting to close in so we retreated inside the bothy to enjoy the heat of the log burner. We left the barbecue simmering away, anticipating its re-use in the morning.T
his is where we had an ‘alignment problem’. You see, not all of us knew the plan to reuse the barbecue. One person in particular. Paul.
With those beers weighing heavy - Paul went outside for a moment, then re-entered the Bothy, declaring that he had “put out the barbecue” with a big, proud smile on his face. We all instantly knew what he meant. Indeed, Paul had taken an unorthodox approach to extinguishing the barbecue.
Horrified, we started to discuss what we would actually do about the situation. We explored the prospect of eating raw bacon and eggs in the morning or, worse still, not eating breakfast at all! Crazy talk.
In the end, after much debate, we settled on a solution, and it was by no means an ideal one. First, we had to tentatively empty the barbecue of 'the liquid' then wash it out the best we could in the stream. Like I said, not ideal.
People were declaring things like “the fire will burn it away” and “It’ll be fine”. Always the positive attitude with my crew.
When the morning came we did indeed eat our breakfast from the freshly 'cleaned' bbq. We ‘enjoyed’ bacon and eggs sandwiches, through the steaming fumes of ammonia. Whether or not there was an offensive aftertaste is debatable, but we all knew it was there.
There is, however, an important lesson to be learned here. Bringing this back into the world of branding (a very tenuous segue but just go with it), and that lesson is, to make sure you align your team.
Introducing your new brand identity to your team can be an exciting but challenging task. Here are a few tips of how to ensure alignment throughout the process:
- Communicate regularly and transparently about the changes and how they will impact the company and employees.
- Listen to employee feedback and involve them in the process to create a sense of ownership (Note: This can be a tricky one to navigate. To brand with bravery sometimes you will split opinion. Someone will ultimately have to take ownership of the rebrand, and have the final say).
- Celebrate the new brand identity with your workforce with a launch event to get everyone on board.
- Provide training to ensure consistency in applying the new brand identity.
- Create brand guidelines for the team to refer back to at their leisure.
It can be difficult to keep this communication going during the branding process. It’s a bit like maintaining connections with busy friends who live all over the place. But in both cases, it's important to make the effort to stay in touch and come together for meaningful experiences. Alignment among team members is crucial to the success of any endeavour, including the introduction of a new brand identity. What you’re ultimately trying to avoid is having members of the team metaphorically pissing on your barbecue because they don’t feel informed or involved. Because, I promise you, it’s a taste you’ll never forget.