Cross-functional teams


I am a leader who loves variety and working in larges organisations enabled me to work in cross functional teams. I grew as an individual and learned so much about the business. Many start-ups or smaller businesses are cross functional because of the limited number of people to do the work. You might find yourself working with the sales and marketing team one day, and the finance team on another.

When you create a cross-functional team, you get together employees from different departments to achieve a common goal. This means you might choose people from different areas like sales, research and marketing, or people who possess distinctive skills, to deliver an outcome. This type of team will usually reform or dissolve once the goal is achieved, but depending on the complexity of the project, this might take a few months or a even a few years. Due to rapid changes in the business environment, a hierarchical or functional team, for example, would not be capable to respond quickly enough for new opportunities which would lead to reduced results.  

Cross-functional teams have the agility to organise efficiently to achieve the business goals.  

Benefits of cross-functional teams:

  • This is the type of team that nurtures creativity and brings out unique perspectives since everyone on the team is highly skilled and has expertise in a different area. Creative solutions, in turn, encourage new insights and excellent development. Combine the skills and the knowledge across the team and you will get the solutions and the progress to achieve the business goals.  

  • More than half of the employees are not engaged in their current workplace and this is having a negative impact on the overall productivity of an organisation. However, when you shift to team-oriented structures, this will nurture team bonding and, ultimately, improve workplace dynamics. This type of team combined with strong leadership skills will bridge the gap between team members, improve morale and facilitate a culture of collaboration that delivers results. 

  • A collaborative team will always come up with new, rich ideas to sustain the innovativeness that will differentiate your business from your competitors. The strength of your cross-functional team lies in their ability to think outside of the box to bring solutions and deliver the desired results. When creative minds get together, they are encouraged to explore, make mistakes and take calculated risks to learn quickly how to handle challenges. 

  • In a cross-functional team, the team members are encouraged to develop their managerial skills. Although this might require time, it could yield great results once the team members are equipped with the necessary experience. When your team members develop special skills and learn how to work across different cultures and work styles, they will become an asset to team and embrace diverse solutions. 

Challenges of cross-functional teams:

  • One downside of the cross-functional team is the lack of measurement or reward. When the work is not part of an employee’s performance review, this might lead to lack of clear goals and priorities. As a leader, you must establish clear strategic goals that are accepted and understood by everyone and reward progress when possible. 

  • Due to different levels of expertise in different areas, it is important to establish the right amount of communication in a cross-functional team. Too much communication or distraction could impede productivity, whereas too little communication would not provide the team with enough information to stay on track and meet the deadlines. 

  • Since you are bringing people from other areas or teams, it might be difficult to build trust straightaway. When your team members trust each other, they acknowledge that everyone is competent to do their job. However, working with others outside the department requires putting faith into their new abilities. Trust between team members should be nurtured by the leader who can set the tone and establish expectations. 

How to lead a cross-functional team:

If this is the right team for you, don’t get discouraged by the challenges above. Remember to start with selecting the right people who have the best skills to accomplish your goal. To ensure success, you should have a close relationship with the stakeholders and encourage co-operation throughout the duration of the project. Last but not least, keep in mind that this is a highly skilled team and, therefore, you will need to invest in technology and software to facilitate increased productivity and deliver fast results. In return, you will be rewarded with teams that fulfil their purpose and achieve measurable impact. 

Remember

Creating a cross-functional team that goes the extra mile might be perceived as a challenge so it is important to take advantage of the right opportunities and bring the right people at the right time. With a clear focus on a specific problem, and multiple experts and perspectives, you could create a “one team” mentality who works collaboratively to fulfil its purpose. 

Discover more from 3WH

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

 Mark lesson complete
{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}
>