4 simple tips to create cross-functional teams
Lights Camera Action – it’s time to form cross-functional teams
Are you wanting to take a leap of faith in your business to form cross-functional teams?
86% of employees and executives cite lack of communication or collaboration for workplace failures!
The benefits of teamwork in delivering value to your customers will make you wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
When there is effective communication and collaboration happening your teams end up enjoying the work so much more because there is a common goal they are all contributing to.
97% of employees and executives believe lack of alignment within a team impacts the outcome of a project
The pro’s of creating cross-functional teams are plenty, here are four simple tips on how to form them.
- Surface your rotten tomatoes. Consider the work you need to deliver to your customers and identify where your business is falling short in delivery. You should start to see patterns emerge that allow you to pick up where cross-collaboration or better communication between departments or employees could easily have avoided these.
- Pick your movie cast. Figure out the role of each member of the cross-functional team, what is the perfect mix of talent you need to transform rotten tomato reviews into golden globe votes.
- Consider your movie directors. Your teams are going to need a leader to drive momentum, guide them, keep the focus going, and help problem-solve. If the role is new, consider a training program to help upskill them in the new position.
- Do a take1. If you have a sizable business and this change is pretty significant, consider trialing it with one or a handful of teams before rolling it out across your full organisation. Your employees are your strongest ambassadors to drive motivation for a fresh way of working. If they “see the value” and your customers “see the results” you have what you need for a sequel.
In the below case study video, forming cross-functional teams resulted in:
- The ability to scale their business
- More time for strategy at the exco level
- Better decision making
- Well balanced teams
- Healthier & happier teams
- Improved communication across teams
Great things in business are never done by one person, they are done by a team of people.
Steve Jobs