Alignment isn't a meeting. It's a habit.

Staying aligned is harder than getting aligned.

SaaS teams don’t fail because they lack ideas or effort. They fail when the people building, selling, and supporting the product drift out of sync.

In my last article, I wrote about how fast-moving SaaS teams often hit hidden walls. One of the most damaging - and most overlooked is stakeholder misalignment. It doesn’t show up on a sprint board or dashboard, but it quietly kills momentum.

At first, everything feels aligned. You’ve got a shared roadmap, clear goals, and buy-in from every team. But then the cracks appear. Scope starts to creep. Sales is chasing new deals. Engineering is drowning in tech debt. Customer success is making promises you’ve never heard of.

This invisible divergence in priorities can quickly spiral:

• Deadlines drift because no one’s quite sure which goals matter most

• Technical debt piles up as reactive work takes over

• Customer satisfaction drops when key features get bumped or delayed

• Team morale erodes as frustration and confusion set in

  
  

This is the real work of Product Management in a scaling SaaS company. Alignment isn’t a kick-off. It’s not a Miro board or a Notion doc. It’s a system you maintain. It’s a living entity that decays without constant care.

Recognising that and building habits to continually reinforce alignment is what separates good PMs from great ones.

The Alignment Flywheel: A simple way to stay on track

Alignment isn't a checkbox. It's a habit. A loop you build into everyday work. When maintained, this loop builds trust, clarity, and forward momentum, even in complex and fast-moving teams.

The key concepts of the flywheel are:

Clarify

Make sure everyone understands the same goal in the same way:

• Repeatedly articulate the why behind your product and priorities

• Translate business goals into simple, actionable language for every team

• Make decisions explicit. Say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ clearly, and keep the delivery plan accurate and up to date

  
  

Connect

Bridge the gap between teams, tools and assumptions:

• Facilitate regular, productive cross-functional communication - don’t just broadcast updates

• Create space for real conversations to uncover misalignment early

• Link features and tasks back to shared outcomes. Show how the work supports the why

  
  

Reinforce

Repetition isn't redundancy - it is reinforcement:

• Repeat core messages often to help them stick

• Proactively realign. Alignment naturally decays as teams grow and shift

• Recognise and reward behaviours that reinforce alignment across functions

  
  

How to put the Alignment Flywheel into practice

The Flywheel only works when it becomes part of your team’s daily rhythm. It's not just something you reference at planning time. Here’s how to turn each part of the model into simple, repeatable actions you can start using today.

Clarify: Make the 'Why' visible every day

• Start planning and elaboration sessions by reminding the team about 'why' these features and tasks matter

• Share a simple slide or dashboard with all stakeholders communicating current product vision and focus

• Write simple, outcome-linked goals that connect development work directly to OKRs

  
  

Connect: Keep teams and goals aligned in the mess of daily work

• Create a regular cross-functional stand-up so that teams can share and understand each other's priorities

• After roadmap updates, explain what is changing, what isn't and why

• Use shared Slack channels or regular “Show & Tell” sessions to break silos and build shared context

  
  

Reinforce: Make alignment part of the team’s muscle memory

• End sprint reviews with a 2-minute recap: “How this moved us toward our goal”

• Share a weekly email or Slack post that links progress back to outcomes

• Invite questions and challenges that help clarify how tasks connect to bigger goals

  
  

These aren’t big initiatives. They’re lightweight, intentional habits that stop your product from drifting. Every team is different (more on that in a future post), so choose what works for you.

The most important thing is to keep the Flywheel spinning. Make alignment a habit, not a hope.

You don’t have to own everything as a PM, but you do have to own alignment. That’s what keeps your team moving in the same direction, especially when the pace picks up.

Keep the Flywheel spinning

Alignment isn’t a one-off activity. It’s a habit. The Alignment Flywheel gives you a simple way to keep your teams focused, connected, and moving forward, especially when the pressure’s on.

Fast-growing teams don’t fall apart because of bad ideas. They lose momentum because they drift apart without realising it. Don’t let that happen.