How can you gain experience working with people from different departments?

I believe that individuals can acquire a wealth of knowledge and experience through networking, cross-departmental training, effective communication, engaging in team-building activities, and fostering a culture centered around the sharing of knowledge.

Pessoas com opini?es e personalidades diferentes geram diversidade de ideias. Um time com esse perfil tende a ter resultados de alto valor para a empresa. Opini?es diferentes geram ideias transformadoras. O que deve ser imutável é o propósito, os valores, a postura e o respeito às opini?es divergentes alinhadas à cultura da empresa. Pensar diferente transforma uma organiza??o e traz bons insights de crescimento!!!

People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Genuine interest in a colleague's work is a great start. Every department of a company influences every other department. Connect the dots between what your colleague does and your work, and vice versa. That's an excellent way to build cross-departmental relationships. Remember... People work with people. Be authentic and take an interest in the whole person—professional and personal.

In my view, aligning with colleagues across departments through shared goals is a powerful strategy. Joining company-wide projects or proposing collaborative solutions fosters a collective vision. This not only enhances understanding but also creates a dynamic, interconnected work environment. Actively engaging in such initiatives has proven to be a catalyst for collective synergy, contributing significantly to overall organizational success.

To gain experience working with people from different departments, it's essential to identify and establish a common goal that aligns with the overall objectives of the organization. By defining a shared objective, individuals from various departments can collaborate, leveraging their diverse skills and expertise to achieve the common goal. This fosters cross-functional teamwork, encourages effective communication, and promotes a deeper understanding of each department's contributions. Such collaboration not only enhances individual skills but also strengthens the cohesion and efficiency of the entire organization.

Again... People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Ask your colleague(s) how they prefer to interact around a given topic. When you take the initiative to move closer to their preferred style/channel, you show respect for their time and work. Don't discount the power of real-time voice-to-voice and face-to-face interactions. Sometimes, a good old-fashioned phone call can cut through lengthy written communications. A quick video conference adds visual cues to strengthen understanding.

In my view, effective cross-departmental collaboration hinges on clear, respectful, and empathetic communication. Adapting to diverse communication styles and channels is crucial, ensuring seamless information exchange and fostering strong rapport. Recognizing the value of tailored communication, it becomes a linchpin in cultivating a collaborative atmosphere that enhances overall team synergy.

Effektive Kommunikation erm?glicht einen reibungslosen Informationsaustausch, verhindert Missverst?ndnisse und f?rdert die Zusammenarbeit. Hilfreich sein k?nnen festgelegte Kommunikationsprozesse und -tools, ggf. auch Richtlinien und Protokolle um Missverst?ndnissen vorzubeugen. Fragen und Kl?rungen sollten in einer offenen Kommunikationskultur immer willkommen gehei?en werden. Auch Schulungen, die für abteilungsübergreifende Zusammenarbeit sensibilisieren, k?nnen einen wertvollen Beitrag leisten. Ein gutes Set an Soft Skills und ein ausgewachsenes Ma? an Empathie tun ihr übriges.

Active listening and effective communication is the key for building solutions. Diverse experience with different department and backgrounds enriches innovation mindset in the organization.

In my experience, collaborating across departments thrives on a curious, open-minded approach. Acknowledging constant learning, I actively seek insights from others through questions, attentive listening, and embracing feedback. This dynamic not only improves performance but also enriches the collaborative landscape, reinforcing the idea that collective growth is key to diverse team success.

In my four decades of leading teams and companies, being curious and open to new lessons is the most critical contributor to success. Use commonalities and shared goals to connect with people. Use genuine and respectful curiosity to learn different perspectives. These new perspectives and insights are the building blocks for continuous growth—personal and professional. While you may not apply the lesson immediately, you have it in your repository. The more quantity and variety you have, the better informed you are to make decisions for yourself, your team, your company, and your industry.

Many times I've asked to be a (anonymous) intern in the various departments I have not worked with yet. The goal is to experience what they experience with the beginners mind and have better ears and understanding of the input, feedback and non communication of certain people, departments and divisions. As an example: I came to learn about conflicting KPI's only after I joined an informal meeting amongst managers from a different department where they complained why they could not go faster. One division had mainly security and compliancy KPI's and their counterparts were driven by pure sales and service KPI's. This partly explained miscommunication about the company's ultimate goals and the focus of the common project.

There's nothing more enriching than collaborating with open-minded individuals who expand your horizons. Together, learning and sharing knowledge becomes a continuous journey, where diverse perspectives fuel the search for solutions, project development, and process improvement.

Before commanding Allied forces, Eisenhower held obscure mentoring posts under rivals. As a Major, He aligned military priorities with tight civilian budgets for a petulant General. It honed coordinating with authorities and tempering explosive personalities. Navigating politics as an advisor, He learned to subtly manage imperious bosses through influence, not confrontation. Both episodes showed success comes by bridging bureaucratic gaps and balancing clashing personalities using soft skills. Rotational assignments & gaining systemic insights alongside other departments forges strategic vision, not just chained commands. He prepared for victory abroad by first breaking down silos at home through lateral exposure.

I would take this a step further and talk about the advantages of looking for differences. A study has shown that when a diversified group of people is asked to collaborate, they tend to focus on common points. Rather, seeking to uncover the diversified perspectives, experiences and points of view is what can propel a collaboration to new heights, all while challenging the status quo and finding creative solutions.

Having new experiences and gaining new perspectives are the lifeblood of long and successful careers. When serious about your growth, you respect AND seek out differences. Commonality is a starting point for understanding. Differences—backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, life stages—fuel innovation. Everyone and every experience has the potential to contribute to the next innovation, improvement, process, and opportunity. Embracing diversity includes actively seeking diverse perspectives. This is not a passive act. You... You initiate.

Over my 20 years, working with diverse people across cultures, backgrounds, skills, and departments within a compliance and ethics framework, I've learned a valuable lesson: there's not always a single "right" or "wrong" approach. Different perspectives and methods often exist, each with its own merits.

Getting experience by working with different departments is a give-and-take proposition. Seek to understand before seeking to be understood. To reach a mutual understanding, consider seeking feedback from your contacts in other departments. Remember that no one knows it all. Accept positive and negative feedback with grace, and given the opportunity, provide your perspectives as feedback. Blunt, highly critical feedback is rarely helpful in the early stages of building cross-departmental collaboration. But when the situation calls for direct criticism, a private conversation is the best environment.

In my view, actively seeking and accepting feedback is crucial for cross-departmental collaboration. Openness to constructive input fosters continuous improvement. Proactively giving feedback to others strengthens mutual understanding and commitment. This loop enhances individual performance, identifying strengths and weaknesses, contributing to a collaborative environment prioritizing collective success.

Start with a praise and celebration, always. Celebration opens ears and softens minds. It allows for the defensive ‘fight or flight’ reaction to relax into the space or creative, problem solving and diffuses competition into aligned collaboration. More joy, more ease, more productivity.

Bringing a cross-functional team from different departments is itself a deep learning experience in itself for a leader... Generally assembled for a common cause, different stakeholders brings different perspective across the table to the common problem. Evaluating such options on merits to arrive on common action plan is certainly an enriching experience for all participants. Celebrating each milestone offers another Not-so-formal opportunity for team members to share their learning and experiences in not so closely related domains with others which further helps in ideation. Celebrating successful outcome certainly creates motivated team.

Acknowledging and celebrating victories, both big and small, is a vital ingredient for success. These moments of joy serve as powerful reminders of your journey, allowing you to reflect on what worked well and identify areas for improvement. They also recharge your energy and focus, propelling you towards the next level and challenge with renewed enthusiasm.

In today's world, no department works in isolation. In a collaborative working environment, every team member complements skill sets to progress the goals further.

Respect Priorities: Each department has their own priorities, Respect them and provide enough time for their response to your quest.

Informal networks are so valuable- ask your colleagues for introductions to people from other departments or to be directed to the person with specific skillset.

Every department has a different objective for the problem at hand..cross functional collaboration can open up new perspectives

Threads of thoughts and ideas coming in from various departments may be useful though complicated at times. Goals could be similar yet approaches different. There needs be a personality that will help collaborate within the different aspects & work towards one end goal.