How can you build and lead a cross-functional marketing team?

In my experience facilitating 50+ teams in my career, THE KEY MOMENT building trust to foster collaboration in a new team is at the START of the project. Especially when the team members are new to each other, a strong starting technique is explaining your personal WHY this project is personally relevant, and what is the personal take-away is that you are striving for. The empathy of being heard, the openess of the discussion and the passion of all participants felt are a great base for trust and fruitful collaboration. Tip: As a final exercise is facilitate drafting together ‘THE TEAM VALUES’ for the disruptive innovation journey which everyone shares.

Develop a team charter that outlines the expected behaviours and ways of working. For example, our team charter has statement about taking personal responsibility, how to raise concerns and fostering an inclusive, creative environment. Every team member acknowledged it by email reply or signing.

The most successful teams begin with building trust. If your team trusts you and their teammates, they'll work together to accomplish goals and share valuable ideas regardless of discipline. Another key ingredient is showing the team that you are invested in their growth. Developing growth plans for each of your team members forms a strong desire for them to work harder because they know you are invested in your team and in turn, they become invested in the company. The growth plans shouldn't be specific to the company but should be specific to the employee's career goals combined with their potential. Be open to communication, don't judge, understand each member's drivers, and be transparent. Most importantly: Lead. Don't manage.

I agree that clearly articulating the team's objectives and desired outcomes is crucial for alignment. Additionally, maintaining open channels of communication across team members with diverse backgrounds is essential to execute complex marketing strategies. Fostering an environment of trust and camaraderie through team building can further unite the team. Overall, leading cross-functional teams requires focusing on the big-picture goals while also attending to the interpersonal dynamics between members.

Develop talent. Sounds simple! But it’s challenging to do well. A couple of tools that have helped me: 1. Definitions. Training is teaching. “Here’s how you do this.” Coaching asks questions to help the employee find their own path. “What do you think would improve your result next time?” Be clear about when to use each. 2. Good vs bad. From The Hard Thing About Hard Things, you explain the good and bad behaviors of a role. Ex: a good sales rep always hold the last 5 of a call to talk next steps. A bad rep allows calls to go over. 3. Call recording feedback. Nothing is as valuable as hearing something back or examples of good. Common in sales, they can also be used internally. “Here’s an example of an effective meeting and why”

I've found a ton of success when I not only align these definitions within marketing, but also with the other cross-functional teams that these things impact. Talking about a customer journey map and marketing funnel... the more you align with sales, SDRs/BDRs and customer success on these definitions and processes, the better your results will be.

I find trust to be one of the most important elements to high-functioning teams. Doing what you say you’re going to, being transparent, practicing empathy, and having your team’s back when conflict arises can go a long way to building trust.

Communication is probably one of the most important aspect to cater to. The team needs proper processes and workflows built in order to function smoothly, and one of the only ways to do that is by having regular check-ins with everyone in the team, not just one person from each team.

Giving them resources is about more than making sure they have the right tools or a sizable budget. Does each team member understand *how* their role supports the company's goals? Are they given opportunities to think strategically (instead of just focusing on execution)? And when you challenge them to stretch their skills, make sure they are empowered to make mistakes and take risks!