A Deep Dive: Cross-Functional Collaboration Strategies

Modern workplaces today have evolved significantly over time. Cross-functional collaboration has become the norm across large corporate structures, with many companies actively improving collaboration and communication aspects amongst various teams. But what exactly does this term mean and why has it gained so much popularity in recent times?

Cross functional collaboration involves various teams of the company working together to achieve a common goal. This involves different teams contributing to the success of the project or task using their skills and expertise.

The most common situation where cross functional collaboration occurs is during product launches. Teams from design, manufacturing, marketing and sales come together to make a well-versed plan to ensure a successful product roll-out.

Cross functional collaboration across teams and individuals can be crucial for the success & growth of the company. It brings a variety of skill sets and perspectives to the table, allowing you to come up with novel solutions for challenges you may face.

In this article, we try to gain a better understanding of the topic before moving on to the various benefits and challenges of cross functional structures in your workplace. We then analyze the various strategies involved in cross functional teams that will help you develop and improve collaboration and coordination within your organization.

Let’s begin then!

Understanding Cross Functional Collaboration

To kick it off, let’s begin with cross functional collaboration actually means.

Cross functional collaboration is a management technique that helps bridge the gap between various teams of the organization. It emphasizes communication and collaboration amongst a diverse group of individuals to achieve a common and mutually beneficial goal.

Cross functional collaboration must not be confused with other types of collaboration that exist within the corporate hierarchy, mainly multi-functional hierarchy. Listed below are the major differences between these two styles of management.

As modern organizations grow in size and spread across geographical locations, cross functional collaboration has become a necessity. Cross functional teams ensure that all major teams of the organization are aligned in terms of goals to be achieved. It also helps fast-track growth and promotes unique solutions to solving problems when required.

We will discuss the benefits of cross functional collaboration in detail in the next section.

Benefits of Cross Functional Collaboration

Surveys conducted by the Harvard Business School Analytical Review have show that 56% of businesses are moving towards cross functional collaboration. Here are some of the main advantages of this form of collaboration which makes it a beneficial management practice in today’s work culture.

1. Better communication and silo elimination

Teams that do not require communication among their members can often see things go haywire very quickly. Members can quickly lose sight of the holistic goal required by the company and can instead enter into a me-first mindset, with their own goals and targets.

Cross functional teams can help reduce or eliminate this issue as it requires teams to be aligned at all points in time. Clear communication becomes a necessity that ensures the completion of tasks across the board.

Cross functional collaboration can also help reduce friction between members across teams. This integrated approach of various team members ensures that the focus remains on targets set by the company and not the individual.

2. Shared responsibility and ownership

As seen in siloed work environments, the main focus for an individual is to complete their tasks for the day. When outcomes are not met to the required standard, team members can often resort to finger-pointing as blame is assigned to a third person. This can highlight a serious issue as members fail to take ownership of the project and its failure.

Cross functional collaboration effectively creates teams that share a sense of responsibility toward the project. It allows for a collective effort between the teams, with a clear plan for proceeding towards the intended goal. Breaking the individual task mentality, it makes team members take note of how well their project is doing and be more aware of its current status. It also ensures a sense of belonging and trust within the organization, with members feeling inclined towards performing at their best for the company.

3. Knowledge sharing

Cross functional teams often work better thanks to the flow of information across teams. This can be crucial in multiple aspects, from day-to-day activities to the overall development and innovation of the organization itself.

Teams collaborating across the board can often develop multiple perspectives on the same issue. This gives them a holistic understanding of the same problem and allows them to choose the best strategy to overcome it. It also allows team members to learn from each other and contributes to their individual development.

It is also the perfect chance for innovative strategies to tackle unique situations. The mix of experience and skills can help achieve the bigger picture by doing something different, which can benefit the organization in the long run.

4. Tacit knowledge capture and transfer

One of the most vital aspects to ensure the success of an organization is tacit knowledge.

Experienced members can often have a deep understanding of the company, including its products and practices. It is hard to communicate or define their knowledge clearly and is usually exchanged with newer members in social interactions or while mentoring them.

Cross functional collaboration can often allow newer employees to interact with senior company members. This can give them the chance to gain vital information about their field of expertise that no book can give. Members looking to climb the corporate ladder can also develop a better understanding of how the company works and its various offerings.

Cross functional team collaboration also has the added benefit of increasing the general knowledge and skill of employees. It allows the organization to increase the quality of decision-making and innovation.

5. Better team performance and productivity

The major benefit of cross functional collaboration is the elimination of silos within teams and the company. Members can be 50% more productive when they are part of well-structured teams.

Cross functional teams require members to be more proactive and collaborative. The sense of responsibility can act as further motivation for members to perform at their best. This can lead to more work being done in a lesser amount of time.

Accountability can also come with a sense of reward when the intended goals have been achieved. Employees belonging to such cross functional team collaborations can share the success and feel proud of their contributions to such achievements.

Challenges of Cross Functional Collaboration

While cross functional teams within the organization have their benefits, they also have a few drawbacks that have the opposite effect. It is important to know these challenges and take the necessary steps to avoid such problems harming your work culture. It is important to note that these challenges are not independent of each other. They often crop up around the same time in a continuous fashion. This highlights an urgent need for attention to your cross functional initiatives to avoid disasters.

1. Physical and logistical barriers

Cross functional collaboration can be quite complicated in hybrid or remote work environments. This is due to the lack of physical interaction and social bonding that could occur outside of the workplace. Time zones can also further complicate matters with minimal overlap of working hours further straining communication and timely execution.

Even organizations working from an office can have their fair share of issues. Spaced-out office spaces or across floors can act as a physical barrier for employees to meet and collaborate.

2. Lack of trust

It can be hard for cross functional teams to hit the ground running. This could be due to a lack of familiarity among members of the team. This can lead to a couple of major issues that can hurt collaborative efforts.

The first one is social loafing, where team members put in less effort as the size of the group grows, with a decrease in the quality of effort as well. This can increase the pressure on those putting in the most effort, which could eventually lead to a complete breakdown within the team.

Another major issue that arises is knowledge hoarding. In this situation, colleagues with unique skills or tacit knowledge may withhold information that could benefit the entire team. The fear that credit may not be given when deserved or becoming a situation where their job could be at stake could lead to serious issues in achieving the best possible outcome.

3. Disjointed processes and miscommunication

Cross functional collaborations are often created for specific purposes or projects within an organization. As a result, they do not have a standardized procedure that governs workflows and communication protocols.

This can often lead to confusion and delays between teams, with a lack of clarity being the major concern. Team members may often feel stuck and unsure of how to approach other teams to raise concerns or begin working on tasks that require cross collaboration.

Communication is another issue that can lead to a slowdown in effort and trust building. Without an established method to discuss ideas and plans across teams, cross collaboration can lead to a big mess that will require a lot more work to untangle.

Strategies to Improve Cross Functional Collaboration

If you are convinced that cross functional teams are a necessity for your organization, then here are a few tips and tricks that you can implement. This will allow you to maximize the potential of cross functional collaboration and reap the benefits of this management technique.

Strengthening leadership capabilities

The success of cross functional collaboration depends largely on the leadership. Having someone in charge can help get things moving in the right direction, create clear plans, resolve conflicts and facilitate engagement across teams.

The primary objective of leaders is to understand the organization’s ultimate goal for which cross functional teams are required. They must be able to create a framework that integrates such collaborations as part of team roles moving forward.

Individual team leaders must be able to create clear plans for their members after arriving at a consensus with other team leads. This allows for individual team members to have definite roles and tasks that require cross functional collaboration while ensuring clarity and establish proper communication channels.

Team leads must also monitor the interactions between various teams. It allows them to step in when things go south and conflicts arise. While trying to find common ground and come to compromise to help move things forward. When negotiations do not work, leaders must be decisive enough to make a ruling that is in the best interest of everyone involved.

Developing a shared vision and goals

Cross functional collaborations are built on the foundation of achieving a goal that benefits everyone involved as well as the company. Having a shared vision to achieve the end goal can help fast-track the success of the project.

Studies have shown that shared purpose improves collaboration across the organization. It also helps team members feel a sense of belonging and develop a strong identity within the organization. This aligns them with the goal and vision of the organization, building a positive cycle within the culture.

The main tip for leaders looking to establish cross functional teams is to ensure that all teams work towards the same goal. Even though their roles may need unique execution methods, teams must not silo themselves and work towards accomplishing only their short term goals and targets.

Empowering teams and instilling a sense of ownership

Cross collaboration works better when employees participate wholeheartedly instead of being forced to by upper management. Giving employees the chance to work across teams and gain knowledge in new domains must be encouraged.

This will instill a sense of ownership and accountability at a team level as well as for individual employees. They will feel motivated to interact across the organization and contribute in any way they can on their own accord. This increases their value within the company while being more productive.

Empowering your teams to interact and collaborate can also boost morale and build strong bonds within the organization. Teams can reward colleagues and encourage them to perform even better with great swag and gifts. Brands like Swageazy offer you great packs and gift items that will help you find the perfect gifts with no hassles.

Investing in collaborative tools and technology

Cross collaboration in today’s world requires organizations to adopt technology to reap its benefits. With numerous tools developed to encourage collaboration in real time between teams, it is important to have the right set of tools as per your requirements.

Internal messaging platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams allow you to facilitate seamless communication among members of your organization. They offer text-based chat services as well as audio-visual conference tools for easy cross functional communication within teams.

Project management tools like Asana and Monday give team leads and upper management an overview of daily activities. It also helps them assess if progress is being made across the organization towards achieving the goal as planned in the beginning.

You could also use software like HelpJuice which allows you to establish a knowledge base across your organization. It allows for every team member to access information about them, making it easy for cross functional teams as a result.

You must assess the extent to which you require cross functional collaboration across your organization. This will help you assess the features among the various available options and help you choose the right software for your needs.

Creating a single source of truth (SSOT) and synchronizing information

In early 2004, the Airbus A380 ran into an unusual problem. The wiring was not enough. Further investigations revealed that a mismatch in the design software versions used by two international teams led to an error in the wiring diagrams. The designs had to be done from scratch and caused a delay of a couple of years, with massive ramifications as a result.

This unique situation highlights just how important it is to have your information synced while working in cross functional teams. Having knowledge management software (KMS) like Document360 can make sure that all teams are working on the same updated information. Getting this aspect of cross functional collaboration can be crucial to achieving the common goal most efficiently.

The key aspect of KMS is establishing a Single Source of Truth or SSOT. It holds the master copy of the company information and procedures. SSOTs ensure that cross functional collaboration is based on the same information for all teams.

Encouraging knowledge sharing and facilitating organizational learning

Cross functional collaboration requires teams to exchange ideas and information that may come in handy throughout the project. In such situations, it is essential to have knowledge-sharing platforms that facilitate this flow of information.

It is important to have a basic process that allows knowledge sharing within the workplace

• 1. Employees identify the knowledge that may be required by other teams during the cross functional collaboration.
• 2. The knowledge is uploaded to a central database in the form of text documents, images or presentations.
• 3. The existence of these knowledge assets is made known to the necessary teams, with access being granted through their SSOT.
• 4. The process continues over time, creating a comprehensive database of information.

This can lead to an eventual culture of learning and growth within the company, facilitating widespread organizational learning. Such opportunities are welcomed as part of employee development and can lead to a greater sense of ownership and satisfaction among the workforce.

Systematizing collaborative processes and efforts

Based on all the points we have discussed above, it is now important to put a system in place for cross functional collaboration. This will help you streamline efforts and make sure effective communication and management practices are deployed to ensure success.

Listed below are a few aspects that you must explicitly state when creating your system.

• Clarify which teams are required to collaborate as well as the individuals within the team
• Define the roles and responsibilities of each individual
• Define the tools to be used and their role in the collaboration
• Lay out a clear plan of how the cross functional team is to proceed in achieving their end goal.

Developing KPIs and OKRs focused on collaboration

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Objectives & Key Results (OKRs) are efficient ways of measuring just how successful your cross functional initiatives are. However, you need to define specific parameters that are focused on cross functional collaboration.

Your KPIs and OKRs must address the qualitative and quantitative benefits of employees belonging to cross functional teams. Qualitative indicators help track the improvement of employee morale and motivation and an improvement in the workplace culture. On the other hand, quantitative measures help draw a correlation between this management technique and an improvement in productivity, profits and other tangible markers.

Making continuous improvements

With cross functional teams in place, you must understand that you will be required to make continuous improvements. This will include optimizing existing processes and solutions to improve the scope and efficiency of cross functional collaborations across the organization.

It is essential to have the vision of your efforts develop collectively as time passes by. This will help you adjust collaborative efforts in the workplace to make sure the work being done is relevant.

Evolving documentation procedures and policies will help you refine knowledge-sharing practices that can help in long-term information exchange. You will also need to be on top of new features and updates that collaborative tools put out, allowing you to further grow your cross functional capabilities.

Conclusion

We now hope that you have a comprehensive understanding of cross functional collaboration and its importance in today’s work culture. This management technique has seen mass adoption across enterprises thanks to its multifold benefits for both employers and employees.

While the pros largely outweigh the cons, it is important to have a clear strategy while implementing cross functional collaborations for the first time. Implementing the tips mentioned above can lead to a seamless integration into your existing workflow, allowing you to enjoy the long-term benefits.

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