Manier times, you might have heard it from your employees who feel like other departments or teams in the organization aren’t playing by the same rules, working for the same mission, or playing on the same team. Companies may face an issue, which is a lack of effective collaboration across the different areas. It is more common than you think. Moreover, as the workplace has shifted to remote and hybrid because of digital transformation and the coronavirus pandemic, collaboration across departments has become necessary and challenging.
Leading organizations are well aware that healthy cross-functional teams are at the center of generating innovative solutions in real-time. These cross-functional departments can bring together top talent with various skill sets to develop, create, and market products that can take you ahead of your competitors. If managed poorly, these teams can experience a lack of communication, pushes-back deadlines, and unsatisfied customers. A study from Harvard business review shows that 75% of the cross-functional team are dysfunctional.
What are cross-functional teams and collaboration?
A cross-functional team refers to a group of people from different areas with various skillsets working for a similar goal. They often are put together in response to a project requiring the expertise of these departments. These teams can also happen organically, especially in small companies where employees manage different functions by themselves.
Cross-functional collaboration is a process that brings a group of people with different expertise or from various departments together. There are only a few projects that require one person or a group of people with similar skills, knowledge, and experience, in this situation, employees from various areas have to work together to find new solutions to the issues they are facing.
However, there’s no simple fix or solution to create collaboration between these departments. But the tips mentioned below can help you make the process more cooperative:
Ensuring that everyone is on the same page
Companies should elaborate the role that everyone has to play to reach the goal and explain it to them in terms that they understand. People in your organization won’t be able to follow the same mission if they interpret it as something different. You should develop a shared language between every team to understand the significance of the goal, how they plan to achieve it, and how their role is crucial.
Encourage open communication between employees
It is astonishing that today in the business world, there is a lack of communication amongst various teams and silos. Communication is essential for any organization as it helps them increase understanding, compassion, transparency, appreciation, etc. Many companies handle the interactions between different teams well. And for becoming successful in today’s market, you must promote a culture of communication. It means that your should share the timelines and work objectives associated with various departments. It also helps build a proper understanding of teams’ role in an organization and proves that a single department can not function exceptionally without the other. Communication is a vital element to experience a true collaboration.
Maintain Transparency
Transparency goes along with communication. However, it also consists of the willingness of managers and higher authorities to admit their failures, weaknesses, etc. When your team notices you as a leader showing that it is ok to be human, they are likely to feel less defensive and more collaborative in various tasks they perform.
Show Empathy and Understanding
You can’t make your employees empathetic, but you can show them different ways to understand each other better on a more personal basis. It helps create an emotional understanding between them. If you know where someone is coming from and are well aware of their background, you are more likely to make allowance, help, and interact when necessary.
Set an example
Many executives and managers want their teammates to do things like- communicate, establish transparency, offer necessary feedback, and collaborate across every department when they are not doing these things by themselves. It is evident that for a successful business and digital transformation, higher authorities must accept and experience the changes they want to see in their companies or what they expect from their employees. If they are not following these terms, then no one else will.
Promote open feedback
Along with the collaboration, you should also encourage a culture where people feel safe expressing their viewpoints and even failing. It is essential because real innovation can only occur when people feel safe exploring new things, taking chances, and trusting their colleagues to have their back. A polite collaboration can get things done. But an honest and open collaboration can get things done more efficiently. And this is possible with genuine feedback that you provide to your employees.
Create a sense of community and collaborative culture
Companies should apply a culture-rich approach to their leadership. They should encourage their employees to acknowledge when they have free time to help those facing work overload. This experience allows your teammates to know the work levels of each team member. And to go through a proper application for those who stepped up to help when they could do so. This concept can encourage creating collaboration across departments.
Share technology and data:
If your teams do not have access to similar data, people, performance measurements, and tools as the other teams of the organization. You might experience bitterness, mistrust, and a kind of rebellion from them. As discussed before in transparency, you need to keep the communication lines open and make it convenient for the teams to interact and approach each other about shared access to people, software tools, and information.
Know about the other departmental processes:
You need to acknowledge the points where your work overlaps with other teams, and both the teams need to understand the work for those intersections to link successfully. And can help employees to appreciate the whole business process and not just their part of it. This way, every member can have a basic idea about the process operating in other departments, which can help them collaborate when needed.
There is no particular way that ensures and creates a successful collaboration across departments. Hiring specialists or experts won’t do it either. Although, it might make it worse. Therefore, instead of looking for shortcuts or an app to make team collaboration, you should go with the good old-fashioned commitment, culture, and work. The tips mentioned above can also guide achieving a successful collaboration between cross-functional departments.
Author’s Bio:
Deepali Daiya is a communication expert who excels in understanding customer needs. She writes powerful sales scripts and articles with very high conversion rates. Currently, she is associated with Sage Software Solutions, a leading distributor of high-quality ERP and CRM systems to small and mid-sized businesses in India.