![]() ![]() When departments operate primarily within their specific vertical, they often focus on their own goals without seeing the big picture. Cross-Functional Teams Promote the Goals of the Organization They can also anticipate hurdles earlier in the process because each department has input throughout the process, rather than a project moving from department to department. By working with members who have varying viewpoints, expertise and backgrounds, the collective team can more efficiently tackle problems and achieve the goals of a project. ![]() Benefits of a Cross-Functional TeamĬross functional teams break through the “silos” of a traditional organizational structure so that the team can see the big picture. Oftentimes, cross functional teams are organized to complete a specific project, but they can also be created with a more ongoing purpose. What Is a Cross-Functional Team?Ĭross functional teams are groups of people from various departments in an organization-such as marketing, product development, quality assurance, sales and finance-who work together to achieve a common goal. While most departments are organized by expertise and purpose, cross functional teams are groups of people with different viewpoints and expertise who collaborate to achieve a common objective. Now consider the people in other functions, units, or geographies whose work touches yours in some way.The antidote? Cross functional teams within the organization. Think about your own relationships at work-the people you report to and those who report to you, for starters. That’s understandable: It is devilishly difficult. Though most executives recognize the importance of breaking down silos to help people collaborate across boundaries, they struggle to make it happen. Leaders can help employees connect with and relate to people across organizational divides by doing four things: developing and deploying “cultural brokers,” who help groups overcome differences encouraging and training workers to ask the right questions getting people to see things through others’ eyes and broadening everyone’s vision of networks of expertise inside and outside the company. The CauseĮmployees don’t know how to identify expertise outside their own work domains and struggle to understand the perspectives of colleagues who think very differently from them. But breaking down silos remains frustratingly difficult. Innovation initiatives, globalization, and digitalization increasingly require people to collaborate across functional and national boundaries. ![]() And when that happens, interface collaboration will become second nature. What, then, is the solution? Engaging in four activities that promote horizontal teamwork: (1) developing cultural brokers, or employees who excel at connecting across divides (2) encouraging people to ask questions in an open-ended, unbiased way that genuinely explores others’ thinking (3) getting people to actively take other points of view and (4) broadening employees’ vision to include more-distant networks.īy supporting these activities, leaders can help employees connect with new pools of expertise and learn from and relate to people who think very differently from them. Employees naturally default to focusing on vertical relationships, and formal restructuring is costly, confusing, and slow. To realize them, companies must break down silos and get people working together across boundaries. Today the most promising innovation and business opportunities require collaboration among functions, offices, and organizations. ![]()
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