Many of the innovative software companies like Google, Facebook, Netflix, and Amazon have started adopting the benefits of cross-team collaboration. You know why? Because of inspiration and innovation, coordination and organization and speed. You need to re-think if you are still dependent on siloed departments. A cross-functional team collaboration is a great thing. When the teams from different departments are landing together to work it will bring a global perspective to your work.
In a research, it is found that 75 percent of business are considering online collaboration tools important for their business. This is true as online tools greatly help in collaboration bringing unexpected value to a business.
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What is a cross-team collaboration?
Cross-functional collaboration ― bringing people from various spheres, bringing together their knowledge, expertise, and experience. The major point is “work-interdependency”. Teams have to work together to succeed.
Cross-team collaboration has become the need of constantly emerging new technology, with continuously competitors scrumming, and companies wanting to stay on top of the game. The success of a cross-functional team depends on certain factors, without which a team will always be struggling.
- Highly-motivated team members
- Teams hold accountability to accomplish the mission
- Open-minded team members
- Management to support the team
- No conflicting personal goals
- Clear priorities or direction
- Adequate communication
The 8 Benefits of Cross-Functional Team Collaboration
It can be a bit daunting to build a team that involves people from more than one department. But when you do so, it is totally worth it. Here are some amazing reasons that you might want to consider cross-functional collaboration in your teams.
1. Gain a better insight
To bring a gulp of creative ideas, cross-functional collaboration is a great choice. Creativity is a group process. When the project managers, put together people who are experts in different subjects, each with unique skills sets, it will bring out some new perspectives. This method of collaboration will bring new insights to the team to bring up creative solutions and enhance development. With each team member bringing their skills and knowledge to the table, the work will progress and thrive bringing solutions quicker.
2. Engaged employees
In the past few years, employee engagement seems to be declining. According to a 2013 Gallup Poll, 63% of employees are “not engaged” by their current work. This makes a big difference to the overall productivity of the organization. Therefore, shifting to team-oriented structures can boost team bonding, improving workplace dynamics. With a strong leader handling a cross-functional team will help in combating silo mentality and bridge the gap between team members.
3. Spurring innovative ideas
It is said that cross-functional team is a calculated investment for teams to sip in productivity and work together. This is because a collaborative team brings new insights with which comes innovation. It is a great way to boost creative minds to pool ideas together that separates businesses from their competitors. When different minds playing different roles are brought together, they think outside of the box to substantially bring better results. When people think in new ways, it helps them make smart mistakes, take better risks and spur innovation and creativity.
4. Exercising communication skills
Effective communication is the cornerstone of any team for successful projects. It is an art that can make or break your team. Clear and concise communication encourages sharing of ideas between cross-functional teams. Having a cross-functional team means bringing in a diverse group of people who can develop their struggles and strengths of communicating by discussing constructive feedback and understanding diversity issues.
5. Developing management skills
Cross-functionality has another great value in honing management skills. Of course, managing a team doesn’t come naturally to everyone, it should be polished by learning through experiences. When the teams are put together, your management skills will really be put to the test. You will need to develop special skill sets to work with diverse backgrounds and work styles and effectively lead a cross-functional team going through unique challenges.
6. You get to be in leadership roles
Well, when you are working together with teams from different departments, you get the chance of being the boss or maybe leading the way for your team. The manager can give chance to other folks in the team to lead the project so they learn to be in the leadership role and can pump new life into the project.
7. Break stereotype and benefit from diversity
As it involves people from different areas, a team will know the strengths of other teams. When a tech team meets non-tech team, they understand each other’s efforts and take advantage of their knowledge. You start sharing common goals and foster a bit of understanding. This type of understanding that breaks the stereotype, is a boon for the business. Also, the diverse group of people of different age, background and thoughts can bring new innovation to the table.
8. Further, build team spirit
The process of cross-functional teamwork will give you an opportunity to make a team of high performers so they can bring out something huge, grow more reliant and take big challenges. Together they can create a sense of unity and learn a more about patience.
Many teams in big organizations find it a challenge to create a cross-functional collaboration to go an extra mile. So, you need to capitalize on times so you cross-functional teams deliver its best to a complete advantage. As you decide that your project needs a cross-functional, adopt the cross-functional collaboration best practices to help you make a collaborative team.
- Identify who has the best skill sets along
- Make sure the right people are selected
- Build ongoing relationships with stakeholders
- Invest in a collaboration software
- Encourage cooperation between different units
- Goals should be mutually supportive
Manage your cross-functional team collaboration. Switch to ProofHub
Ready to Make the Change?
A big contributing factor that decides the success of a project is to determine how well the teams work together. Definitely, there are going to barriers, but there will always be a solution to each. Cross-functional teams have been promised to be the workplace’s secret weapon for all creative problem-solving methods. Get your cross-functional team collaboration right and get the infinite rewards.
