Do cross-functional teams lead to greater project success? It depends on who you ask. Some people believe cross-functional teams can be very productive, given they have clear governance, accountability, specific goals, suitable project management tools, as well as the organization to invest in and prioritize their success.
Usually, a cross-functional team is created to spark innovation, break bureaucratic boundaries and reduce production cycle times by granting a more collaborative environment.
What Is a Cross Functional Team?
A cross-functional team is a team in which the members have different skill sets, but are all working towards a common goal. It often includes people from different departments and from all levels of the organization, though it can also include participants from outside the organization.
These teams are usually self-directed. They are assigned tasks, which are then uniquely approached because of the various expertise of the team members. Each participant can offer their own perspective, leading to a more “out of the box” solution. This creative approach can lead to innovation, which can be a substantial market advantage over the competition.
Cross-functional teams often exist in small or startup environments. Because startups usually have a small number of employees, team members might have to perform a variety of tasks in different departments, thereby collaborating with those departments as well. This certainly creates a cross-functional team environment, even if the organization hasn’t acknowledged it yet.
ProjectManager is an online project and portfolio management software that connects cross-functional teams with the tools they need to do their work. Managers can schedule tasks, resources and costs on Gantt charts, which also link dependencies, filter for the critical path and can set a baseline to track progress in real time.
Those plans are shared across the software and teams can access their assignments on kanban boards that visualize workflow, allow teams to manage their backlog and collaborate on sprint planning. There’s also task lists that can set priority, add tags, attach files, create to-do lists, add comments and much more. Even stakeholders can stay updated by using the calendar view for a monthly look at progress. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.
Experts vary on whether these teams work best cooperatively or in competition or even both. Because members of cross-functional teams come from many different departments (marketing, sales, finance, etc.), they can subconsciously compete with each other by defending the interests of their core department. As far as the overall direction of a CFT, decisions can be made by consensus or by a team leader.
Cross-functional agile teams are common. If a cross-functional team mixes specialists from different fields, agile teams take this a step further. They make them combine and require each team member to expand beyond their area of expertise. Also, agile demands self-organizing teams, which dovetails nicely into the way a cross-functional team works.
How to Manage a Cross Functional Team
Managing a cross-functional team involves leading a group of individuals from different departments, each bringing unique expertise to complete a project or achieve a common goal. Effective management requires strong communication, collaboration and alignment to ensure the team functions efficiently despite varying backgrounds and priorities. Here are key strategies to successfully manage a cross-functional team.
Develop Cross-Functional Training
Providing cross-functional training helps team members understand each other’s roles, responsibilities and workflows. This fosters a greater appreciation for different skill sets and reduces knowledge gaps, leading to smoother collaboration. Training can include job shadowing, workshops or knowledge-sharing sessions to enhance teamwork and adaptability.
Foster Cross-Functional Collaboration
Encouraging collaboration across departments is essential to ensure a unified approach to project goals. Establishing clear objectives, leveraging each team member’s expertise and promoting a culture of teamwork help break down silos. Team-building activities, joint problem-solving sessions and shared performance metrics also contribute to more effective project collaboration.
Create Cross-Functional Communication Channels
Effective communication channels prevent misunderstandings and keep all stakeholders aligned. Using project management tools, regular status meetings and digital collaboration platforms ensures smooth information flow. Clearly defining roles, expectations and reporting structures helps maintain accountability and transparency within the team.
Establish Cross-Functional Team Leadership
While it’s not a prerequisite to have one person lead a cross-functional team, the benefits outweigh the risks. First and foremost, everyone on the team needs to take responsibility. Find a leader who can give the team accountability and develop self-leaders in each team member.
A team leader needs to educate, delegate and give autonomy while following up on their progress. Collaborate with the team, too, by inviting them into the project planning process. If you can, get mentors to help shepherd the team and give them direction as needed.
While cross-functional teams are collaborative, there needs to be a leader that is held accountable for the project’s success. Without that leader, there’s a greater risk of a rudderless ship that never makes it to the dock.
Cross Functional Team Management Tools
As noted above, communication is key to success in cross-functional teams. They are working on different ends of the project at the same time, which involves a great deal of coordination. Communication makes sure no one is blocking another’s progress.
But, as also noted, communications can be a challenge as team members might be scattered geographically. This can be a hindrance to collaboration.
That’s where software tools come in handy. A project management software can offer a platform that facilitates communications and collaboration.It provides a communication platform and can be integrated into the greater project, helping to plan, monitor and report on projects.
If you follow the six tips and give your cross-functional team the right tools, you’ll find a winning combination that steers your project to success.
Timesheets
Timesheets are used to track the hours team members spend on tasks and projects. They help managers monitor productivity, allocate resources efficiently and ensure accurate payroll or billing. Digital timesheets often integrate with project management tools for real-time tracking.
Workload Management Charts
Workload management charts visually display team members’ assigned tasks and capacity. They help managers balance workloads, prevent burnout and reallocate resources as needed to maintain productivity and efficiency.
Gantt Charts
Gantt charts provide a timeline-based view of project tasks, deadlines and dependencies. They help teams track progress, identify potential delays and ensure tasks are completed in the correct sequence. Gantt charts are essential for managing complex projects with multiple phases.
Cross-Functional Flowcharts
Cross-functional flowcharts map out workflows that involve multiple departments or teams. They clarify responsibilities, improve communication and streamline processes by showing how tasks move across different functions, reducing inefficiencies and bottlenecks.
Cross Functional Flowchart Example
To better understand how to manage cross-functional teams, here’s an example for a real-life scenario. In this case, it’s the purchase of a home. This process touches on many different teams, from sales to customer relations.
Looking at the above flowchart makes it easy to understand how these different teams interact in the client’s purchase of a residence. The arrows point to each activity as it is completed and moves to another team. For example, the property appraisal, which is part of the mortgage team’s responsibility, leads to the title team’s title services processing for the home.
Cross Functional Flowchart Template
Download this free process map template for Excel, which illustrates the cross-functional flow of activities. It visually maps workflows that span multiple departments or teams. This free template helps clarify roles, responsibilities and task handoffs, ensuring smooth collaboration across different functions.
Strategies to Develop Cross-Functional Teams
Why develop cross-functional collaboration in your teams? Because team collaboration can help you work more productively and efficiently. Cross-functional collaboration can be a great team-building measure and can build a more creative atmosphere. Here are six practical measures you can take to get the most out of your cross-functional team.
Assemble the Right Team
There are a set of skills that are required to have an effective cross-functional team. The project will dictate some of these. The work is going to require a range of expertise from the team, and therefore that team must have people on it who have the various skills needed.
But often overlooked is the shared skills each team member must have to create a well-oiled machine. It takes a certain type of person to work together in such a unique setting. These are independent self-starters who have the authority to make decisions.
Ideally, they should also have experience working in such conditions. Some team members need to have their hands held and to be assigned task after task. These are not the best candidates for a cross-functional team, which requires collaborative members who can work in a less-defined space. Building a cohesive project team will facilitate team management as you progress through project execution.
Clearly Defined Goals
Just like any team, if a cross-functional one isn’t given clear objectives they can find themselves going off in directions that lead to a dead end. Therefore, it’s crucial to have goals defined and in place before even assembling the team.
Some of the ways to get those objectives defined are the same as in any project. For example, you want to have the charter to define the project’s priorities. An approved budget gives everyone a financial roadmap. What are the outcomes you want and what time frame have you scheduled to have them completed?
The sooner these markers are determined, the easier time you will have. Team members will be able to go off on their own, with greater autonomy, knowing what is expected of them, when it’s expected and what resources they need to achieve those expectations.
Shared Success
When you have a cross-functional team, you have different team members with different goals. While all those goals should lead to the overall success of the project, that is not always the case. People can focus on their own small aspects of the project execution plan and neglect its part in the whole.
Yes, the individuals on the team might not always align with other people on the team, which can lead to conflict, but that’s where the team leader comes in. They must lead the entire group to a shared success. It is, after all, the project and not the tasks that are the measure of success.
Communication
Good communication is the hallmark of any successful project. You need to be able to articulate your needs and they must be heard and understood to move the project forward. The problem with cross-functional teams is that they are often not under the same roof, which makes communications more difficult. Communications need be open and frequent, so what can you do?
The best plan of action is to find the right platform that speaks to your team. It can be a collaborative tool like Skype or Slack, or a more robust project management software that offers more functionality. More on that later.
Constantly Reevaluate
The beauty of cross-functional teams, and one reason they’re so often seen in agile environments, is that they are flexible and able to adapt swiftly to change. A cross-functional team is ideal when you want to speed innovations to market. To achieve that goal means reevaluating priorities and processes are needed.
This includes performance reviews. Because to remain effective, teams must always be measuring their progress and success. And this happens not only as a post-mortem at the end of the project but throughout its execution. Were objectives achieved? If not, why not? Adjust accordingly.
How ProjectManager Supports Cross-Functional Teams
How can there be one tool that will give a team of differently skilled members everything they need to do their job and the ability to coordinate those tasks with others on the team? It sounds like an impossibility, but it’s not. ProjectManager is award-winning software that gives managers and teams the features they need to organize and get productive.
Robust Resource Management and Cost Tracking Tools
Managing cross-functional teams requires resource management features that can balance workload across different departments. Our workload chart is color-coded and provides a view of resource allocation over all project teams. This makes it easy to see who is overallocated or underutilized, and the team’s workload can be balanced without leaving the workload chart. There’s also a team page that offers a daily or weekly summary of the team’s activities. Our secure timesheets not only streamline payroll, but track labor costs to keep projects within their budget.
Online Cross-Team Collaboration Tools
Communications are enhanced by our software, as it fosters conversations in groups or in one-on-one situations. Better than mere dialogues, team members can share documents, links and other related material to help them collaborate. These conversations can even occur at the task level of an online kanban board, Gantt chart or task list.
Plus, with ProjectManager you get real-time data, which means that wherever a team member is located, they’re getting an accurate picture of the project’s progress. This helps cross-functional teams stay in touch and be in sync.
ProjectManager is online project management software that gives cross-functional teams real-time data and a collaborative platform. See how it can help your teams today by taking this free 30-day trial.
