What can you learn from leading a cross-functional team?

In my experience, leading cross-functionally requires an open mindset accepting diverse inputs, connecting horizontally to break down any silos, and building together across functions starting from a strategic strawman. Harnessing diverse perspectives and expertise of cross-functional team members with an open mindset can lead to more creative and innovative solutions. Connecting horizontally with effective communication skills helps integrate team members who may have different backgrounds and ways of working. Finally, inclusive leadership and adaptability help create an environment that fosters innovation and enables building solutions together to align the cross-functional team's efforts with broader organization goals.

Identify the right cross-functional team. Participants should reflect the stakeholders impacted by the teams objectives. If the right participants are gathered they inherently learn from each other and understand how they impact each other and will ultimately make the best collective decisions for the organization.

Something I learned at Netflix is a good cross-functional team isn’t about a pecking order of seniority, but the getting actual right people in the room. It’s not a flashy thing about who’s in the club, but about what’s best for the company. With this in mind, build your team with a clear purpose and a shared goal, anchored by a champion (your informed captain) and learn things outside your area of expertise. Finally, go into an XF team with the mindset that an actual meeting isn’t a data dump, but a chance to have meaningful conversation and help make those decisions.

Learnings from leading a cross-functional team: + Set clear vision, role, dependencies are critical to help members contribute and make impact. + Understand that every contributions are matter (incl. disagreement and conflict) + Learn to listen deeply, patient, communication + Deliverables are great by trusted, committed, dedicated members.

Kickoff is critical and is an opportunity for the leader to set the team up for success. Set the tone. Introduce the players and give everyone a chance to speak, especially to their strengths. This is an opportunity for the team to learn outside their silos and experience personal growth, as much as it is an opportunity to add business value. Make sure everyone has a role, but encourage them to reach beyond that role, when needed, and collaborate often.

Topics of defined RACI matrix, defined Role & Responsibilities (R&R), & established governance have become a personal pet peeve to illustrate regurgitated textbook materials from non-practitioners that don’t pass personal“sniff tests” as these members lack the depth of insightful experience called wisdom. The better questions become what happen when governance gets violated? Who is the governor to enforce the governance? Those who lack experience will say ESCALATION for sponsors to remove roadblocks. ???? The professionals who are adept at becoming resourceful will begin to negotiate without escalation.?? People don’t like negotiation because it is stressful as most have never been trained like lawyers. I enjoy negotiations. It’s fun.??

Leading a cross functional team is a very diverse experience where you have to coordinate and work with diverse skills, technology and mindset. Effective leadership with focus on communication and team building strategy is the key for success. This helps to over come the common pitfalls of miscommunication, silo working and conflicts.

Involve team as much as possible in this process. Some team member may be new to project type of work, methodology or type of work. Be patient in explaining roles and expectations. Clarify if all people have same understanding of roles. It could be that somebody worked on project that had role with same name but different 'job description'.

Many times people come onto a cross-functional team and don't appreciate that their role as a team member is not the same as their role in their everyday job. I've seen a lot of people join teams and think their role on that team is only to share what they know, from their perspective of their position in the organization (i.e., their job title). They miss the importance of their role on the cross-functional team as (1) representing their entire function and functional position on the topics/decisions and (2) sharing the team decision with their function and ensuring compliance to it. The team leader should gain agreement from the team member and their functional leader (if different) on these aspects of the role.

Working backward helps. Start with identifying what you are hoping to accomplish, identify the gaps, and then fill them in with the skills/resources at hand. Agree as a group and allow each team member to define their own details. Don't only settle on RACI; MUST create a DACI & and escalation process. DACI allows you to know who has decision power and will make the call when conflict arises. Some organizational hierarchy makes it easier to escalate than others. Find your way of reaching a consensus and quickly moving forward.

Working with team members from diverse backgrounds and functions requires a common understanding and alignment on team mission and objectives, as well as the KPIs. The leader should provide a supportive and constructive environment, and foster fact-based, open communication. Through cross-functional leadership, the leader must know the team members' personalities and capabilities, develop strong partnerships, encourage cooperation among the team, and leverage the diverse strengths of team members to achieve collective goals.

One thing I add is to hire better executive teams. If the management culture is built on back-stabs and lack of trust, that will circulate down to all levels.

Enhancing team trust and collaboration involves several key elements. Begin by defining clear roles and responsibilities to prevent overlaps and conflicts. Implement "Freedom within a Framework" to balance guidance and autonomy. Hold regular stakeholder ceremonies to provide progress updates and conflict resolution. Embrace conflicts transparently within the well-defined roles and responsibilities, fostering innovation. When possible, in-person events help strengthen team bonds. This holistic approach ensures a cohesive, innovative, and collaborative cross-functional team.

Leading a cross-functional team can teach you how to build trust and motivate individuals from different departments who may have different priorities and goals. You can learn strategies to foster a sense of collective purpose and enthusiasm among team members.

Adaptability and Flexibility: Will learn how to adapt management style to accommodate different work style, priorities and ways of thinking.

Diverse viewpoints can lead to conflicts and disagreements. leading a cross-functional team teaches how to manage and resolve conflicts constructively with the solution that consider all the perspectives.

Leading cross-functional teams often involves dealing with complex problems and environments that require flexibility and adaptability to altering conditions and requirements. In such cases, the new conditions or changing requirements should be very well understood and shared among the team. The leader needs to convey the new expectations and requirements very clearly and openly; but on the other hand should be open to receiving team's concerns, questions, and address them at max level applicable, so as to restore the momentum and collaboration, mitigate potential risks of frustration or unclarity, and move the team for the new set of objectives.

Know how you want to respond to challenge and change cross teams before it happens. This needs to be clearly defined and agreed to before commencing a project. Without the communication rules of team engagement and enjoyment you will be flying blind. Set up regular team check ins to talk about gaps, threats and risks and the solutions. Make sure you have clear agendas and actions when doing this work. It needs to be fair and equitable across all roles and functions

Either you are leading the team or are a member of the team, it is crucial to understand that one key to cross-functional success is understanding the difference between yours and any other function. Other teams may have different: working style, communication style, goals, pace, etc. Be open to build the relationship and adapt to different dynamics. You're collaborating to join efforts and reach common goals.

Cross functional teams can have conflict. That is a growth opportunity for you as a leader. How do you handle it? Can you handle it continuously?

We regularly set ourselves ambitious goals or, in the case of start-ups, are given them by VCs, for example. So there is enormous pressure, but it also enables us to make enormous progress. In my experience, high pressure - from whatever direction - can only be withstood if successes are duly celebrated. Celebrating success is important for one's own motivation and the motivation of the whole team. The famous expression "work hard, party hard" is not used without good reason.

Diversity in expertise and viewpoints often leads to innovative solutions. leading a cross-functional team exposes you to creative problem-solving techniques that draw on the collective intelligence of the team

Celebrate team achievements if you need to reengage the team in the future. The higher the effort and grit required the bigger the reward.

I love leading cross-functional teams. It is always a learning experience for me. I get to learn about multiple departments, their successes, their challenges, and I know about the people. Usually, I work with managers, SMEs, and individual contributors. These are the best people to learn from. I hear directly from the front line about what is happening and what they need. I get to introduce solutions just by introducing people. Companies that work in silos have problems that can be easily fixed by fostering communication. These types of projects help the overall company exponentially if handled correctly.

Leading cross-functional teams reveals critical insights into effective collaboration. A key lesson is leveraging team members' strengths by assigning tasks aligned with their abilities, and optimizing overall performance. Clear communication is pivotal—ensuring everyone comprehends project objectives and has essential resources fosters shared goals. Acknowledging each team member's value is crucial for morale and team dynamics. Recognition inspires a collaborative environment, motivating individuals to contribute their best. Creating a space for open communication encourages idea-sharing and innovation, fostering a culture where diverse perspectives are valued.

Some takeaways from working in a cross functional leadership are: 1. You get better at decision making because you have inputs from other departments and leaders 2. Your collaboration skills improve because you have to work with people from other backgrounds and responsibilities but are all trying to hit the same organizational goal(s) 3. You will learn to delegate because you understand the value that the other teams bring including knowing their strengths. 4. You will get opportunities to help other teams achieve their goals and in turn meet or exceed the company's goals

??Learn to WIN BIG Together?? Leading a cross-functional team teaches you to harness diverse skills and perspectives, fostering collaboration and innovation. Together, you learn to tackle complex challenges, achieve greater results, and celebrate collective victories. It's about winning big, not alone, but as a united team!

The most I learnt about is People, perspectives and how you direct them towards a common objective. Cross-functional leadership gives best opportunity to truly appreciate the power of diversity.