How to use cross-functional collaboration effectively

It sounds like one of the most “business jargon” concepts ever, doesn’t it?

Cross-functional collaboration.

It’s almost as bad as “synergy.”

But with more and more businesses (not just tech startups) working remotely and collaboratively, it’s time for this idea to stop being jargon.

If you’re looking to find out more about what cross-functional collaboration is (and how you can use it in your business), you’ve come to the right place.

In this article, we’ll give you a complete walkthrough into how you can use cross-functional collaboration to more effectively manage your team, their time, and your projects, as well as how to prepare for the challenges you might face along the way.

Let’s get into it…

What is cross-functional collaboration?

Cross-functional collaboration is a work model in which people from different departments join forces to work on a single project or toward a common goal.

Like when your head of product gets in a room with customer support (what do our prospects and customers want?), the sales and marketing team (what can you sell?), and developers (what can you actually build?) to create a plan for the next quarter.

Once upon a time departments tackled their day-to-day work in silos. Now, more and more companies realize that it’s time to break down the walls.

For instance, 74% of business buyers expect sales and marketing to be seamlessly intertwined (aka collaborating across functions) if they expect to win their business.

Why is cross-functional collaboration important right now?

Since the global Covid-19 pandemic, the ability to work collaboratively (no matter where you are) has become an essential part of running a successful business.

And the failure to do so is becoming more and more damaging to your growth.

The old way of doing business (the “hierarchical model”) was all about arranging individuals based on their level of importance.

Cross-functional collaboration challenges this model, leveling the playing field (to an extent, of course) and enabling people from various positions to work together.

The shift to cross-functional collaboration is well underway. Deloitte has found that 31% of businesses do most or almost all of their work in a team. And even businesses who use hierarchical structures are still embracing some cross-functional work:

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How to use cross-functional collaboration effectively

Using cross-functional collaboration isn’t as straightforward as you might think. There’s a lot of work required behind the scenes to pull it off, and especially to do it well.

So how can you make sure that you use cross team collaboration effectively?

As usual, use the right processes and software. 

Effective collaboration isn’t something you can let happen organically and hope to get right. Especially if you have a history of teams working in silos.

There’s a lot going on at one time in a cross-functional work environment.

Different teams working on various tasks, numerous deadlines to keep on top of, responding to questions, and providing feedback to colleagues — just to name a few.

Using the right digital platforms and processes helps keep everyone on the same page, even when they feel like they have dozens of balls up in the air.

71% of organizations use some kind of project management tool to keep everyone aligned and working towards the same company goals.

But not just any software will work for your team. If you want to collaborate effectively you need a platform that A) Keeps everyone organized and B) Promotes communication…

Keeps everyone organized

Organization is key when it comes to cross-functional collaboration, and work management software makes it a whole lot easier for everyone involved.

With the right platform, you can input everyone’s assignments, duties, and deadlines in one place. Check out our project overview template to see what we mean.

Tasks can also be individually assigned to team members, so everyone knows exactly what they need to do, and when they need to do it:

#2. Promotes communication

If you’re relying on email for communication, you’re signing yourself up for a major headache. It’s slow, disjointed, easy to forget, and messages always seem to get lost in the noise.

You need a platform that makes cross-functional communication seamless when you’re dealing with different functional areas and remote team members — especially when a large number of people are involved.

Platforms such as Slack or Chatwork allow you to create groups for communicating. Ideal if you’ve got an entire team you want to message at once.

Plus, you can sort and search conversations, create separate channels for different teams, and set notifications and alerts so important messages don’t get lost:

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Why is cross-functional collaboration so hard?

As we’ve mentioned already, there are limitations when it comes to cross-functional collaboration — especially if you don’t have the right tools in place.

Let’s take a look at the biggest challenges most cross-functional project teams face:

#1. The silo effect

The silo effect happens when teams don’t have an effective system of communication.

We’ve all experienced siloing. If you’ve ever been on the phone with a customer support rep, been transferred to retention, and had to give every personal detail all over again, you’re seeing information siloing at its finest.

So it’s needless to say that productivity can take a hit…

Siloing is pretty common in poorly-executed cross-functional collaboration. Without visibility over what other people are working on, tasks get overlooked, duplicated, and even forgotten.

So how do you overcome this?

One word: transparency.

Our bridging silos template is a great example of how management software can help to overcome communication silos:

#2. Lack of collaborative platforms

With so many different people involved, and a lot of different tasks underway at the same time, a lack of collaborative tools makes cross-functional working pretty tricky.

And with online collaboration tools increasing productivity by up to 30%, it’s definitely something that should be on your radar for cross-functional working.

Fortunately, this is where project management software can help.

Using project management software provides everyone with a central location, making collaboration that little bit easier.

Everything can be done from the same spot, so there’s no need to go back and forth between different locations.

This is really useful for everyone in different areas to be able to collaborate on the following:

• Planning
• Organizing
• Delegating work
• Updating the workflow
• Asking questions
• Checking progress

If you want a quick way to get started, check out our project tracker template.

Conclusion

When used effectively, cross-functional collaboration has the potential to produce incredible work. But as you’ve probably guessed from reading this article, it doesn’t come without its challenges.

Adopting the right processes and software will help you tackle these challenges like a beefy linebacker, so that your cross-functional team becomes as efficient as possible.

If you’re ready to dive into the world of cross-functional collaboration, don’t worry about having to start from scratch — check out our templates.

Try our work plan template today!