Facing one's units isn't really too hard. Alt + right click changes this (although I'm guessing you knew that.)
As for working out which way they are facing, hold down alt and hold down the right mouse button. Now Put the cursor a little in front of the unit. If they aren't facing that way, you'll see a ghost of the unit that looks different to their current facing.

I find that helps me alot. :) I hope that kind of helps you out