Remember to also celebrate wins as a team and keep communication about positives as well as more pressing issues. So, don’t just get in touch when things are going wrong or urgent changes are needed. Kanban and agile prize daily stand ups (short stand-up team meetings which therefore are more to-the-point that sitting meetings) to keep everyone up to date. All successful teams need to stay connected and keep each other updated. The following traits are essential for successful teams: What is most important for a cross-functional team? Hiring individuals with varying outlooks and professional experience will put you in good stead for overcoming issues and creatively solving problems. You want to be able to work as a team, to think outside the box when needed, to not be afraid to pick up the slack and to be supported when you do so. Cross-functionality arguably requires trust more than anything else. You want a variety of skills and experience. An experienced cross-functional team leader can help this transition run smoothly.ĭiversity in your hiring is also key here. Cross-functionality may veer away from the traditional idea of having a project manager and direct reports, but having a leader is often a necessary thing. Your best bet to adopting these work styles is to employ team members who are experienced in them, and they can then support team members through any teething problems. There are several work styles that are built around the idea of cross-functional teams, such as agile, lean and kanban. How can a business use cross-functional teams? You absolutely need the correct people from the right range of functional areas behind it in order to make it work. Businesses like Netflix, Spotify and Google are all starting to adopt this work method, but it’s not an overnight change. If you are stuck in a traditional mindset, you may not be ready to benefit from this forward-thinking way of working. So, if you know your company isn’t likely to give the platform to a remote working junior executive then, as well as needing to take a strong look at your company culture, you probably aren’t going to have much success in making cross-functional teams. Cross-functional teams are thought to be able to problem solve better and therefore, also take more creative risks.Ī team can only feel comfortable doing this if the business as a whole nurtures this sort of approach. Small business ventures, which usually have a small number of employees and need them all to be multi-functional to some degree, are common adopters of this work method. A flat hierarchy, online teamwork and an openness to new ideas are all vital company concepts if you are going to make this approach work. A successful team will essentially be able to eliminate bottlenecks as there is no wait-time on handover to different departments.Īnyone can find a way to incorporate cross-functional teams into their business, but there are some pre-requisites. As well as this, team members can come from every level in the business, and include remote workers, creating a more diverse range of skill sets, insight and experience. By breaking down the barriers that mean only one team can approach any one process in a project’s life cycle, cross-functioning teams enjoy better collaboration. The main idea behind cross-functional teams is an increase in responsiveness, accountability, productivity and decision-making. Consider it like each team being a mini workforce, able to complete every step of a project through collaboration, without reaching out to another department. So, instead of passing one project around from team to team until launch day, a single team can handle every aspect of it. From finance to HR, content to marketing, but what if this variety of skills was reflected in each individual team? That’s where cross-functionality comes in.Ĭross-functional means groups of people with a variety of skills and experience who all work towards a common goal.
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